


I think I've fallen in love with you

by BlametheCosmos



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: AU, F/M, Fluff, little bit of agnst, mainly fluff though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-10
Updated: 2015-09-21
Packaged: 2018-04-14 01:20:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 27
Words: 23,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4544658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlametheCosmos/pseuds/BlametheCosmos
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fitzsimmons AU.<br/>A slight change to Fitz’s usual job working in the menswear department of a store results in him meeting Jemma Simmons. Soon enough they both realize how much they have in common.<br/>Idk I can’t write summaries but it’s gonna be cute, trust me.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Flirtatious Encounter

“Skye, can you please hurry up and choose something. I’m starving over here.” Said Jemma impatiently from her position at the end of the ‘Food to Go’ aisle in Mark’s and Spencer’s.

“I am hurrying. Just because some of us like to change things up instead of getting the same sandwich every day of their life.” Skye replied. After almost three years of living with Jemma Simmons she had given up trying to persuade her best friend into trying new things. Finally, she settled on a fancy looking salad.

The two of them made their way to the checkout, Jemma in the lead. Looking around, Jemma suddenly realised how busy the store actually was. She sighed heavily and joined one of the shorter queues. Skye followed reluctantly behind her.

“See, I told you we should have been quicker! We could be in a taxi home by now.”

Skye groaned. “ _Great,”_ she thought _“time for another rant”._

But before Jemma could get going they were interrupted by the cashier. “Do you need a bag?” came a shy Scottish accent.

Jemma turned around to face him and was shocked to find a cute, intelligent looking boy around the same age as her. “Uh n-no, I’m good thanks” she replied, holding up her Bag for Life so he could see.

The boy nodded before switching his focus to the items as he scanned them through, one at a time. Jemma took this opportunity to take a closer look at him, his eyes were a piercing blue and his light coloured hair sat in short, tight curls on top of his head. There was a hint of stubble along his jawline, just enough to see that he hadn’t shaved that morning. Normally Jemma hated any amount of scruff on a man’s face, but damn was it working for him.

“Nice choice” he said, holding up the DVD of _Captain America: The First Avenger._ Pulling Jemma out of her daze.

“Thanks, it’s actually my favourite film but my roommate here stood on my last copy.” Jemma glared at Skye as she finished her sentence.

“Hey, it’s my favourite too! I’ve watched it so ma-“

Skye suddenly jumped in “-Jemma! I thought I told you to put my salad flat in the bag so it doesn’t mess up the presentation.” She whined.

Jemma rolled her eyes and was about to come up with a good retort when the boy stepped in to prevent any argument.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine.” He smiled at Skye then looked at Jemma. “I’m no good at strategic bag-packing either. I usually work in menswear though so if you ever need anything folded then I’m your man.” He pointed to himself.

Nudging Jemma and waggling her eyebrows in suggestion Skye spoke for her, “Is that so? Because Jemma here is terrible at folding, it’s almost like you’re made for each other” She joked.

“Skye!” Snapped Jemma, “Sorry about her. I’m Jemma Simmons.” She stuck out her hand to shake.

The boy shook her hand in introduction, “Leo Fitz, but everyone calls me Fitz.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Leo Fitz” she beamed at him while passing over some cash to pay.

 

* * *

 

 

“So, are we going to talk about back there?” Skye asked Jemma as they sat in the back of a taxi on their way home.

“Hmm?”

“The cute guy at the checkout? He was totally into you!”

“What? No, he was just being nice. It is his job after all.” She covered up defensively.

“Whatever you say” Skye replied. She waved her fingers in the air as quotation marks, “ _Pleasure to meet you, Leo Fitz.”_ She mimicked in her best English accent whilst fluttering her eyelashes.

“I’m not even going to talk to you if you’re going to be so immature.” Jemma looked out the window to avoid making any eye contact with Skye.

“You did think he was cute though. You were practically gawking at him the whole time.” Skye poked at her. When Jemma didn’t say anything, she continued. “You were all, _ohhhhh I’m Jemma Simmons_ ” She flicked her hair around in a flirtatious manner “ _I have my own bag and I loooovvveee Captain America, just like you.”_

Jemma glared furiously at her “That’s not even what I said! You’re twisting my words.”

“It’s basically what happened. So, you gonna ask him out? Otherwise I might just have to help myself to some piping hot haggis, if you know what I mean.” Skye teased.

Jemma wrinkled her nose at the suggestion. “He’s not even you’re type, Skye. Everyone knows you go for the big muscly guys.”

“Whereas your type is Leo Fitz.”

“Alright, Fine.” She held her hands up in surrender, “he was kind of cute. But that’s all you’re getting from me.” Jemma admitted, exasperated by Skye’s incessant teasing.

Skye smiled in success as the taxi stopped outside of their apartment building. As she got and walked inside she began singing the childish playground song “Jemma and Leo sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G.” Leaving Jemma to carry any bags inside.


	2. Daydreams

**Fitz’s apartment**

Fitz trudged into the lift and pressed the button for his floor. Watching the doors close, he leaned against the back wall and let out a long, deep breath. God that shift had been long, and his final customer (some middle aged woman) just kept coming up with more and more complaints. Didn’t she get that he couldn’t help that her £5 off voucher was expired? And that screaming child of hers. Jesus was he glad he could return to his usual work in menswear tomorrow. There had been one customer that he couldn’t stop thinking about though. In fact, she was all he had thought about on his journey home. _Jemma Simmons._ She was, without a doubt, the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Her wavy brown hair stopped just below her jaw, showing off the curve of her neck that led his eyes down to the rest of her perfect body. Fitz wasn’t normally the kind of guy to stare at a woman but he just couldn’t stop himself. She probably thought he was a right creep for that. Then he’d made such a fool of himself, _“strategic bag-packing”,_ what the hell was he even talking about?

The lift came to a stop and the doors slid open. Pulling his bag strap into a more comfortable position on his shoulder, he started walking towards his door.

Once inside, Fitz threw his keys into the bowl, dumped his bag, and flopped onto the sofa next to his roommate, Mack.

“Long day then, Turbo?” He asked after pausing his videogame.

Fitz wrinkled his nose at the nickname, Mack had been using it for months now and he feared it had stuck.

“Yep.” Replied Fitz. He got up and moved to the floor around the TV to tidy away the various DVD and game cases. Picking up the case for _Captain America_ he smiled to himself.

“Oh god, I know that look.” Mack groaned.

“Hmmm?” Murmured Fitz, who was too engrossed in a daydream about his new crush to be listening properly.

“Who is she?” he asked.

“Dunno what you mean.”

“Come on, Fitz. I won’t judge.” Mack turned to look Fitz in the eyes.

“Just someone I met at work today, probably won’t see her again anyway.” Said Fitz, trying to dismiss the issue.

Mack rolled his eyes, “Whatever you say Turbo.”

Fitz nodded and stood up, heading into the kitchen to find something to eat.

* * *

**Jemma’s apartment**

Skye and Jemma sat across from each other at the table in their apartment’s kitchen, eating the meals they had bought whilst shopping earlier that day.

“Move your hand. It’s getting in the way of my photo.” Demanded Skye, who was instagramming her salad.

“I thought I’d ‘ruined’ the presentation by not adhering to your weird salad placing rules.”

“You did. But I’m an expert when it comes to Instagram so I fixed it.” Skye said. Jemma heard her phone click from a photo being taken and Skye started typing away before posting her newest masterpiece.

A few minutes of silence passed. Without knowing it, Jemma had gone deep into another replay of her shopping encounter. She smiled to herself at the memory.

“Thinking about a certain Scotsman, are we?” Skye teased.

Jemma was flustered from being pulled out of her little daydream. “Would you please leave it, Skye?”

“Ugh, fine. But I still think you should have given him your number. He was cute and definitely checking you out!”

“Skye! What did I just say?” Jemma felt the redness in her checks rise. God, why couldn’t she just leave things alone?

It was then that the doorbell rang, thankfully distracting Skye. Skye got up to answer it.

The bell rang out again, whoever it was was impatient. “Alright, alright I’m coming.” Shouted Skye as she slid the chain off of the door and opened it.

She was greeted with the sight of their friend, Lance Hunter, who had lived in the flat above since they’d moved in. This had been fine until his girlfriend, Bobbi, moved in with him about a year ago, since then it’d been loud fights and slamming doors every couple of days.

“You won’t believe what she’s done now.” He said, pushing past Skye and into the apartment.

Skye sighed and closed the door, ready for another story. She followed him through to the kitchen, where she earned and exasperated glare from Jemma. She replied with a shrug and mouthed “Sorry” to her.

“I swear to God, it’s over for good now!” His voice had raised significantly on his way through. “Ok, so I come home tonight and she’s standing there, in the middle of the living room, and she accuses me, _me_ of flirting with another woman! I mean can you believe that? I was being _nice_ to this woman at the coffee shop, _nice_ , and she had apparently saw me and decided I was cheating!”

Jemma settled into her seat, this was going to be a long one. She zoned out of his shouting and returned to fantasising about Fitz, imagining how great a date with him would be. He’d probably turn up at her place to pick her up with a bouquet of lilies for her. He’d be wearing a deep blue button up shirt with matching tie, a cardigan and black skinny jeans. The perfect combination of smart and casual. He would offer her his cardigan on the walk down because he knew it was cold outside, and was a gentleman. Then they’d get a taxi to the restaurant, smiling nervously at each other in excitement for the night ahead.

Skye coughed loudly. Frightening Jemma as she was brought back into reality. “Hunter can sleep on our sofa again, can’t he Jemma?” She was obviously repeating the question since Jemma had stopped paying attention long ago.

“Uh-yeah, I guess. I’ll go set some bedding up for you.” She got up and went to the bathroom to do just that.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pretty proud of myself for updating so quickly. Please leave any thoughts on the chapter in the comments :)


	3. Interviews and Old Friends

Leo Fitz was woken by the relentless beeping of his alarm clock. He stretched a bare arm out from under his covers and slammed it down onto the alarm, silencing it. _6:45am_. He groaned sleepily into his pillow and pulled the duvet over his head then, remembering that his shift started in under two hours, he forced himself out of bed and padded through to the kitchen. Grabbing a t-shirt to pull over his head along the way. For some reason he was even more exhausted than usual so opted for a coffee rather than tea with his breakfast. Once he’d plated his toast he sat down at the counter and opened up his emails to work through.

Half an hour later and Fitz was standing in the shower, the hot spray of it on his face. He swiftly shampooed his curls, rinsed, and stepped out. The cold tiles shocked his feet as he wrapped a towel around his waist and speed walked through to his bedroom. Mack may have seen him shirtless countless times during their time as roommates but Fitz still felt horribly conscious around him, fully aware that his physique was pathetic next to Mack’s. Alas, Mack was already up and about.

Fitz frowned at him. Then, remembering his self-consciousness, crossed his arms across his bare chest. “You don’t have work today, why are you up so early?”

Mack cleared his throat to speak, “I was hoping I could come in with you. I need some new clothes so figured I may as well use your staff discount.”

“Sure. But I need to leave in fifteen minutes.” Said Fitz before he disappeared off to his room to change.

* * *

**Jemma’s apartment**

“Morning.” Skye nodded to Simmons as she wandered through and sat down, almost immediately, in front of the television.

“Hey, can you help me prepare for my interview?” asked Jemma

“I thought that was tomorrow?” Skye said, getting up to sit with her. Jemma shook her head in reply. “Then yeah, where’s the job again?”

Jemma sighed, wishing that Skye would pay more attention during their conversations for once. “It’s at the hospital, they’ve got a new research facility and the university I went to recommended me for the job. It sounds amazing, the equipment they have there is incredible.” She beamed as she thought about the prospect of having this job.

“Get you! I told you you’d have offers in no time.”

Jemma smiled again. Skye may be a right pain sometimes, but she was always supportive of Jemma. Her last few interviews were unsuccessful but Skye always made sure she didn’t lose motivation.

* * *

“What about this one?” Asked Mack, who was trying on a suit jacket.

Fitz looked him up and down, “Maybe, a darker grey might be better though. It would match more of your shirts.” He walked along the rail and picked up another one. “Try this.”

Just as Mack was about to try it on, Fitz’s boss came over.

“Leo, I’ve told you before. You can help your friends shop in your own time, but right now there are customers that need you.” he gestured around the menswear department.

“Sorry Coulson.” Fitz apologised.

“Just don’t let me catch you doing it again.” Coulson sternly advised, then walked away.

Fitz looked at his roommate, “Sorry Mack, you’re gonna have to do this yourself.”

“It’s fine, Turbo. I don’t want to get you fired.”

Fitz smiled at him, then wandered off to find something to sort out.

“Excuse me mate, do you know where the rest of these are? I can’t remember where I found it and I need a bigger size.”

Fitz looked at the shirt, nodding as he spoke. “Yeah, they’re just over here. We have a few different colours in for that style too if you want to buy a few.”

When he reached the correct section, Mack reappeared. “I don’t believe it! Lance Hunter. Haven’t seen you in, what? Four years?”

Hunter looked shocked at the sudden encounter with his old friend, “Wow, yeah I guess so. It’s good to see you, Mack.”

“You too. How’s Bobbi doing? You two still together?” Mack asked.

“Uh, kind of. It’s complicated at the moment.” He answered awkwardly.

Fitz coughed, deliberately interrupting them.

“Oh, Fitz this is Lance Hunter. Hunter, Fitz.” Mack introduced the two of them. “Me and Hunter know each other from military school. Fitz is my roommate.”

Fitz shook his hand politely.

“Listen, why don’t you two come over to mine tonight. I’m staying at a friend’s place while Bobbi calms down but they won’t mind.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to add more to this chapter but I figured it's probably better to update it tonight. I might even try posting a new chapter every night!   
> Comment on you're thoughts so far and please leave kudos because it makes me happy :)


	4. Hidden Keys and Grand Tours

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for any mistakes, I didn't have time to edit this chapter. :)

Hunter knocked on Skye and Jemma’s door, really wishing that he’d asked for a key considering how often he had been staying there recently. “Skye? Jemma? Can you let me in?” He shouted, not entirely sure that either of the girls were actually home. After waiting a few minutes he decided that they were probably out so looked around for a spare key. Searching all the obvious places (doormat, ledge above the door, etc.) he was still left locked out. If he couldn’t get in he’d have to either go upstairs to his own place (where Bobbi could be) or wait outside the door like a kid. Since Bobbi was the last person he wanted to see right now, Hunter chose the latter option, sliding down the door to get comfortable. Looking along the corridor he noticed a tile on the bottom of the wall that was placed against it rather than set in. Frowning, he walked over to it, crouched down, and picked it up. _Damn those girls are smart_ , he thought as he pulled off a key that was stuck to the other side of the tile.

“How did you know we keep the emergency key there?” Asked Skye, her voice slightly raised so he could hear her from the end of the corridor.

Hunter almost jumper out of his skin, “Where the bloody hell did you come from?”

Skye smirked at him, walking past and unlocking the door. “Any plans tonight? We could either be celebrating or consoling Jemma depending on whether or not she gets this job.”

“Yeah, I do actually. Hope you guys don’t mind but I ran into a friend from military school today and invited him and his friend round.” He replied.

“Jemma won’t be happy, with her ‘two days notice for guests’ rule” advised Skye, Jemma wasn’t going to be happy with Hunter.

“Oh god I forgot about that. He’s a nice guy though, and his friend seems alright. Who knows, they might hit it off!” He joked.

“Unlikely, she’s been daydreaming about someone all week” She would have continued but Jemma walked in at that moment.

“Hey. So you are looking at the newest employee at the hospitals research centre!” She announced, filled with joy at her first success in the working world.

“Congratulations.” Skye and Hunter aid in sync, then Hunter continued. “Since you’re in such a great mood, you won’t mind two of my friends coming over tonight.” He smiled, internally terrified of the wrath of Jemma Simmons, but thankfully she had no problems.

* * *

“What number did Hunter say?” Asked Fitz, getting into the lift.

“Uh, 12 I think.” Said Mack, following him in.

Fitz nodded. Nervously fiddling with his sleeve. He really hoped it wouldn’t end up with him sitting alone with Hunters friends while Mack spent the night talking solely to Hunter. That could get awkward. Especially since he wasn’t the best at talking to new people.

Picking up on Fitz’s behaviour, Mack tried to calm him. “Hey, Turbo.” He looked him in the eyes to prove he was serious, “I’m not going to leave you on your own tonight, ok? I know you don’t like being alone with new people so just come over to me if you run out of stuff to say.”

Fitz nodded at him, “Yeah I know, thanks Mack.”

The lift came to a stop and they stepped out, turning down the corridor and easily finding the right door. Mack knocked hard on the door, hearing a faint shout from inside.

“Skye can you get that, it’ll be Mack!” they instantly recognised it as Hunters voice.

Fitz’s eyes suddenly widened, he turned to Mack. “Wait, he never said they were girls! I can’t talk to girls Mack!” he panicked.

“Fitz, remember what I promised. I won’t let it get weird.”

The door opened and they were greeted by Skye, who automatically recognised Fitz and smiled wider than should be possible. “Hi!” She looked at Fitz, who apparently didn’t remember her. “I’m Skye, we met the other day. You served us at the checkout.”

Fitz still seemed lost though.

“Come in, don’t mind those two by the way. Hunter broke a rule again.” She gestured to Hunter and Jemma, who were arguing.

“It was only milk, Jemma, what does it matter! It’s not like I’m contagiously infected with anything.”

“Drinking from the carton can harbour all kinds of germs! You could have something without showing symptoms yet.” She was practically yelling at this point.

Skye coughed, pulling the two out of their shouting match and back into the room. She looked and Jemma, still unable to stop grinning like a Cheshire cat. Jemma looked at Fitz, horrified. _Oh God_ she thought. She stuck her hand out to introduce herself to Mack, “Hi, I’m Jemma.” She smiled, “sorry about that.”

“Ha, no problem. I have first-hand knowledge about Hunter’s nasty habits.” He laughed.

She laughed with him, then faced Fitz. “Hi, you probably don’t remember me but we’ve met.”

“Y-yeah, I, um, met you at the checkout. Jemma Simmons, right?” Fitz prayed that that didn’t make him sound like too much of a tosser.

They smiled anxiously at each other. Hunter was the first to break their silence, “Ok, so why don’t we all get a drink?”

Everyone followed him over to the kitchen counter where he began handing out beers from the fridge. Mack nudged Fitz, mouthing “You Ok?” at him. Fitz nodded back at him

Fitz shuffled his way closer to Jemma, starting a conversation between them. “I do remember, you know. You were probably the only easy customer I had that day.”

Jemma tried to hide her excitement, he probably just had a good memory. She was about to speak when Mack beat her to it.

“Turbo, you want to tell Hunter that story about next door’s cat or should I?” He asked, trying to ensure Fitz wasn’t left out.

“Uh, you can do it. You tell it better anyway.” He dismissed, focusing his attention back on Jemma. “So, fancy giving me the grand tour?” that was probably the smoothest thing he’d ever said to a girl.

“Of course, she led him out of the kitchen.” The ‘tour’ finished in her room. She opened the door and led him in.

“Oh my god! Is that Captain America’s shield?” He asked.

“Yeah.” Cringed Jemma, “Please don’t judge mw for having it. It was a present from Skye.” She tried to throw it off as normal.

“No way, I think it’s amazing! I’ve got some pretty nerdy stuff in my room too.” Suddenly realising how that could have sounded, he began to cover it up. “Not that I think you’re a nerd or anything. I think you’re really cool, actually.”

Jemma hid her joy about his last statement, changing the subject. “So, Turbo then?” she inquired.

“Eurgh, yeah. Mack started using it when I was stressing out about my university exams cos I always talked crazy fast. I kind of hate it but I think it’s stuck now. Unfortunately.

Jemma laughed, “What were you studying? I did biochemistry.”

“Engineering, and wow. Biochem’s like, impossible.”

“Yeah, I can’t say it was easy.”

There was a knock on the bedroom door, “Turbo, we’re going to have to take off if we want to make the bus.” Mack said, the two of them had been talking for nearly two hours.

“Ok” he looked back at Jemma, “I’ll see you again soon? If that’s alright with you, I mean.”

“Of course!” Jemma reached over to her desk and scribble onto a piece of paper. She handed it to Fitz, “Here, it’s my number.”

Fitz’s heartrate spiked, “Oh, thanks. I’ll call you later? I mean, not tonight cos, you know, we’ve just seen each other bu-“

“That would be great.” Jemma replied. She’d never been so keen to keep talking to someone.

Fitz smiled at her but couldn’t continue talking since Mack was already pulling him out of the door.

 

 

 

 


	5. Thank God for Counters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I missed posting yesterday but I was away. Thank you for all the kudos :)

“Are we going to talk about what just happened?” Mack asked as they walked down the bus and took a seat.

“Hmmm?” Fitz had been busy putting Jemma’s number into his phone so wasn’t listening.

“You sneaking off with Jemma? I thought you ‘can’t talk to girls’” He did his best impression of Fitz, which was terrible.

“Yeah I know, and I’m sorry for leaving you but remember when I said I’d met someone at work the other day?” Mack nodded at him. “Well, Jemma is that someone. And I wouldn’t have left but she’s just so easy to keep a conversation going with and she knows what I’m talking about and-“ Fitz explained.

“You really like her, don’t you?” Mack smiled at the excitement that grew in his friend’s eyes when he talked about her.

“Yeah.” Fitz sighed and gazed out of the window in another daydream, these were getting more frequent every day.

Mack chuckled at this reaction, muttering something about “Young love.”

* * *

**Jemma’s apartment**

“Jemma Simmons!” Skye laughed, shocked by her roommates sudden confidence in flirting with Fitz.

“It’s just a phone number, Skye.” She said, playing off what really felt like a major achievement as something trivial.

“Yeah but a phone number that you gave to Fitz, who you hit it off with days ago. And then he just so happens to be Mack’s friend, who Hunter saw for the first time in _years_ today. It’s fate.”

“That’s completely ridiculous, you know I don’t believe in fate. It’s just a coincidence is all.” Jemma was going to have to do some damage control before Skye got out of control with her teasing.

“Sure thing, but I maintain that it’s destiny for you two to be together. Written in the stars and whatnot.” Said Skye while going to her bedroom for the night.

Jemma rolled her eyes at her friend. Luckily, Hunter was in the bathroom so couldn’t encourage her antics. Her phone buzzed on the counter so she went to pick it up, a surge of happiness flooded her when she saw the message.

 _“Hey, it’s Fitz. Just so you can add my number to your contacts_ _J_ _”_

She unlocked her phone and typed back.

 _“Hi! And I thought I was promised a phone call ;) x”_ Jemma’s thumb hovered over the send button, she deleted the winky face and kiss and replaced them with a “ _:p_ ” in the hope that it would come across as less full-on.

Almost immediately, her phone rang in her hands. She clicked on answer and held it to her ear. “Hey” she said into the phone, walking through to her room so Skye couldn’t get any more ammunition against her.

* * *

A few days later and Jemma was standing next to a rail of jeans in Marks and Spencers. She wasn’t looking for new jeans but needed something to do while she waited for someone to come back to her with a new size of what she was getting. She heard her phone ring and pulled it quickly out of her pocket, hoping it was who she thought it was. Fitz’s name and picture flashed up on her screen.

“Hi Fitz” She answered.

“Turn around.” Came his voice through her phone, slightly crackled from bad reception.

Jemma frowned as his request but turned anyway. Fitz was standing waving just a few metres away, she hung up her phone then they walked over to each other.

“Sorry, couldn’t resist.” He said.

“It’s fine. It’s a nice surprise, actually, I thought you said you weren’t working?”

“I wasn’t, but someone called in sick so I had to cover.” He explained.

“Here’s the bigger size you wanted” came a female voice from behind her. Jemma looked around to be greeted by a staff member, who gave her a handful of various styles of bra. “Can I help you with anything else?”

“Umm, no thank you. I’m fine.” Jemma was turning nearly as red as one of the bras. The woman nodded and walked away, leaving a very embarrassed Jemma with Fitz.

Fitz stared, open-mouthed, at the items in her hand. He gulped loudly trying to get his eyes to move away. _Bigger!_ _God, it was like he was being tortured._ He thought.

Jemma looked at Fitz, trying to come across as calm. “Anyway, I should get going. I’ll talk to you later.” She quickly scurried away.

“Yep.” Fitz managed to squeak out before she had left him.

Jemma went to the checkout and bought what she needed, trying to get out of there before anything else could happen. She cursed herself for getting so embarrassed. They were only bras, after all. And Fitz worked here so he should be used to seeing such things.

Things only worsened though. She had been so flustered in the queue that she hadn’t even bothered to see who was working on the checkout.

Fitz coughed awkwardly, “next please.” He announced, trying to stay as professional as humanly possible from behind the counter.

You’d think Jemma had seen a ghost by her face as she handed over her purchases to Fitz. “Hi.” She said, looking down awkwardly.

Fitz made some kind of acknowledging sound in reply and scanned everything through. Jemma cursed herself a second time for buying what would be deemed as ‘suggestive’.

“That’s £35, please.” He totalled, taking her cash as she shoved her shopping quickly into a bag. " _Thank God for the counter because otherwise things would’ve got a hell of a lot more awkward"_ Fitz thought.


	6. An Unexpected Offer

Skye lay on her sofa watching _Friends_ when someone knocked on the door. She paused the show and went to answer it, expecting it to be Hunter back from work but instead finding Mack, who frowned down at her.

“Nice to see you to, Mack.” She joked when she saw his expression.

“Sorry, I was expecting Hunter. Is he not back yet?” he explained.

Skye shook her head, “Nope, he should be back soon though.” She opened the door fully and invited him in. “So, How’re you and Fitz?” She asked.

Mack leaned on the back of the sofa. “Good, Fitz has been on his phone pretty much 24/7 though. I don’t think I’ve had a conversation with him this week without it going off.”

“I know what you mean, Jemma’s been the same.” Skye rolled her eyes at the thought.

“Ah, that explains his good mood then. He never tells me anything about that kind of stuff, gets all flustered and defensive.” He laughed.

“Jemma’s pretty much the same, anytime I ask she says they’re ‘just friends’. They’re basically the same person, when he was here yesterday they started finishing each other’s sentences. Like they’re psychically linked or something.”

“Seriously? I haven’t seen them together since we first met, and that was what? Three weeks ago?” Said Mack.

“Yep, I’ve started referring to them as Fitzsimmons.”

“It does have a nice ring to it.” They turned around at the sound of the door opening as Hunter entered. “Hey, you ready to go?” Mack asked Hunter.

“Yeah, just give me a minute to grab my bag.” He answered.

“Where are you two off to?” Skye asked.

“Gym. Do you think Fitzsimmons know that they’re flirting?” Mack continued with their conversation while Hunter went to find his bag.

“Not a chance.” Skye stated, waving as Mack and Hunter left.

* * *

“ _You free for lunch? :)"_  Fitz typed into his phone, he and Jemma had been meeting up nearly every day this week.

A reply popped up not long after it was sent.

“ _Sure! My lunchbreak starts in 15 minutes, can you meet me outside the Hospital in that time?”_

Fitz smiled, telling her that he could before grabbing his jacket and heading down to the street to get a taxi.

Exactly fifteen minutes later, the taxi pulled up at the hospital. He paid the driver and looked around for Jemma. She waved to get his attention as she walked out of a fire exit door, grinning widely. He waved back.

“Hey, you good with a chippy? Not the healthiest of meals, I know, but there’s a good one nearby.” Suggested Fitz.

“Sounds great to me. I only have an hour anyway so we couldn’t go too far anyway.” Said Jemma.

Half an hour later and Fitz was binning their empty chip wrappers. He checked his watch, “We’ve still got some time left. Any ideas?” he asked.

“Umm… We could just walk around for a bit?” But just as she finished her sentence, rain started pouring down. “Or not” She laughed, holding her arms above her head in an attempt to keep the rain off.

“Here,” Fitz said, taking off his jacket and wrapping it around her “wear this, I can just change when I get back.”

Jemma would have argued but Fitz had already put it on her. She held on to the feeling of his arms wrapped around her, warming her whole body. “I could show you round the lab, if you want?” Jemma said.

“Yeah, that’d be great! I’ve always wanted to see a proper lab. Rather than just the University ones. Although I haven’t been in one of those since I graduated, either.”

* * *

“-and this is my desk.” Jemma showed Fitz. He seemed legitimately interested in everything she showed him, asking questions and telling her different facts about the various equipment that he recognised. Which was all of it.

“Dr Simmons, did you finish that analysis this morning?” Asked a woman, clearly Jemma’s Boss. “And who is this? I didn’t know you had a boyfriend.” The woman smiled at him.

“Yes, it’s just here.” Jemma handed her a file. “And I uh- I don’t. This is my friend Fitz, Fitz this is Dr Weaver.”

“Hi” Fitz said, shaking her hand.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions.” Apologised Weaver after seeing their reactions to the idea. “Although, I can’t really allow anyone without lab experience in her. Safety rules and everything.”

Fitz was about to open his mouth but Jemma spoke first. “Well then, it’s a good thing that Dr Fitz here is a rocket scientist.” Jemma smiled at her, hoping that she didn’t sound rude.

“Uh- well not really. I mean, I did do my dissertation on my ideas for ecological improvements to space shuttles but technically it wasn’t my- um my…” Fitz struggled to not boast about his brains. “Ok, yeah I suppose I kind of are.” He finally admitted.

Weaver smiled at him. “So you’ve graduated then? Because we’re looking for someone who could invent new mechanisms for our research and discoveries. I’d love to offer you a job here at S.H.I.E.L.D Facilites if you’re looking for something?”

Fitz looked at her in complete shock, he’d never been offered a job like this before. And since his time at NASA had been reduced to one weekend a year to voice any new ideas he’d had he was looking for something in his field rather than in a clothing department. “Wow. Yes, that would be amazing! Thank you.”

Weaver nodded and said “Send me a copy of your CV and if everything checks out then the job’s yours, Dr Fitz.” Before walking away.

Jemma looked at him, “That was amazing! Imagine how cool it would be working together, they might even put us together since I haven’t had a partner assigned yet!”

He beamed at her, more excited for a job than he’d ever been.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I go back to school tomorrow so might not be able to update as regularly but I will try my best. :)


	7. Getting Ready Part One

**Jemma’s apartment**

Jemma stood in front of her full length mirror, switching between innumerable dresses. So far she’d decided that a nice top and jeans were too casual, none of her skirts matched anything, and Skye was useless at helping. She’d been banished from Jemma’s bedroom after she had started trying on clothes and asking “Can I borrow this?” Jemma huffed out a breath. She was overheated from changing every few seconds and, even after an hour, still hadn’t figured out what she was wearing tonight. She threw the clothing that was currently in her hands onto the bed and stomped through to the living room.

“That’s it!” She announced to Skye, “I am calling Bobbi down here. Thank god she and Hunter sorted things out because I don’t think I’d survive without her advice.” She thought for a second, “Or if I had to deal with Hunter still living here.” She added.

“I did try.” Skye defended herself, “And anyway, if this isn’t a date then why are you so bothered about what you’re wearing?”

“Because this is my first meal out at a fancy restaurant and I don’t want to get the dress code wrong.” She said this as she dialled Bobbi’s number in her phone. “And it is not a date. All that’s happening is me and Fitz, two _friends_ , having a meal out to celebrate us being lab partners for a month.”

Skye laughed at this, “Sure thing kiddo.”

Soon after, Bobbi Morse was walking through their door. “In her room?” She asked Skye, who nodded. Bobbi went through to find her and, after only ten minutes of decision making, Jemma emerged in a red dress which started just below her collarbones and finished at her knees. Around her neck was a delicate looking gold necklace that held a detailed gold leaf.

“If you need any help with hair and makeup then call me back down.” Bobbi said, picking up her phone from the chair of the sofa and leaving.

Jemma smiled at Skye who said “You look lovely, Fitz is a lucky man.” Before running off to hide so Jemma couldn’t hit her.

She checked the time and hurried into the bathroom to curl her hair and apply her makeup. They’d agreed to meet inside the restaurant so that Fitz didn’t have to pay for a taxi here only to take another one there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a short chapter but I think it's cute. The next one will be for Fitz getting ready and will be posted tomorrow night.  
> This is the dress that Jemma's wearing:  
> http://www.modcloth.com/shop/dresses/kettle-corn-dress-in-sunset


	8. Getting Ready Part Two

**Fitz’s apartment**

“Turbo, you here?” shouted Mack, who’d just returned from the gym.

“Yeah, hang on.” Fitz’s voice came from his room and was followed by the sound of clattering and Fitz muttering angrily. “Hey.” He appeared at his bedroom door, slightly ruffled.

“What was the clattering?” Mack asked.

“I had a fight with some coat hangers.” He admitted, “Oh, and don’t use the shower yet because I need one, me and Jem are going for dinner to celebrate us being lab partners for a month.”

“Like a date?” Mack tormented him.

“No. Like two friends going to a restaurant.” Fitz was getting fed up with the constant mentions of him and Simmons dating. He may see her as more than a friend, but she doesn’t. At least, not to Fitz’s knowledge.

“Whatever you say, Turbo.” Mack rolled his eyes at Fitz’s blindness to the truth and left him to it.

Fitz walked into the bathroom to take a shower and it wasn’t long until he was out again, towel fixed tightly around his waist. He went through to get dressed but was left indecisive about what to wear. Most of his clothes had already been worn to work and probably weren’t formal enough. Digging into the back of his wardrobe he managed to find a light blue shirt without any food stains on it so slipped that on, next was trousers. Jeans were definitely too casual so he pulled on a pair of smart black trousers. For a tie he chose a darker blue, almost navy, and to ensure he looked appropriate, a black suit jacket.

He towel-dried his hair and tried adjusting the mess of curls to create some kind of tidy-looking parting. He checked the time on his phone, sighing at his appearance in the mirror he decided that it would have to do if he wanted to be on time. He laced up his shoes and headed out the door, mumbling a “see you later” to Mack on the way past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if I don't post a new chapter tomorrow but I need to write a speech for the house captain elections at school. Again, Thank you so much for all the kudos, comments and hits. They make my day :)


	9. "Not a Date"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please ignore any mistakes, I haven't had time to edit it.

Fitz ran out of his taxi and into the restaurant, his forehead glistening with sweat from his short run around the street corner. Probably a sign that he should re-join the gym even though the embarrassment of going with Mack would kill him. When he stopped in front of a waiter he had to give himself a few seconds to get his breath back so that he could speak. “Reservation…” He panted, “For Leo Fitz.”

The waiter smiled at him, “Of course, sir.” He looked down at his list and located the name, “Your date has not arrived so you have the choice of which table.”

“Oh, no we’re- um- this isn’t like a date thing. It’s just a two friends having dinner kind of… uh… kind of thing.” Fitz tripped over his words.

He smiled again, clearly not convinced by Fitz’s explanation, and led him through to show him the two free tables. Fitz choose one in a bay window which was secluded off to the side from the main noise of the room to give them some privacy. Fitz sat down and the waiter soon returned with the drinks Fitz had ordered (one for him and one for Jemma). He took a sip of his and put it back down onto the table, deciding to wait until she arrived.

Eight minutes later, Jemma arrived. He stood up as she approached, trying not to stare at how utterly beautiful she looked. As the waiter pushed her chair in for her he sat down again. “Wow. You look beautiful.” He told her, realising that he probably shouldn’t have just as the words escaped his mouth.

Jemma immediately reddened. Reminding herself that this wasn’t a date and he was, despite only knowing him for a short time, her best friend. “Thank you. You look great too.” She replied, amazed by how his blue eyes looked even brighter in this light. _Best friend._ She reminded herself, reeling in her emotions.

They looked over their menus, commenting on various dishes as they read down the list of starters. Eventually Fitz choose a fancy sounding dish with scallops and Jemma went with grilled shrimp on salad.

Jemma was telling him something about a new film that was coming out but Fitz struggled to pay attention to the details because he was so distracted by how great she looked. Where guy would be staring at her chest which, he will admit, was very distracting, he was more concerned with the way her eyes crinkled slightly when she smiled and how her eyes glistened when she was excited.

It wasn’t long until they had finished they’re starters and were halfway through their main. Their conversation hadn’t paused since she arrived, constantly talking passionately about various interests. Every now and then the waiter would return and ask them if they needed anything, then he would smile knowingly at them. Seeing how completely unaware they were of the fact that this clearly was a date. After they had finished everything they continued to talk until the waiter brought them the bill, at which point they paid with a generous tip and left.

It was still fairly warm outside so Fitz offered to walk her home, insisting that he wanted to make sure she was safe. They linked arms and slowly set off for Jemma’s apartment. When Fitz noticed that she was shivering slightly at the breeze, he took off his suit jacket and slipped it over her shoulders.

“Thanks.” She smiled shyly at him.

He shrugged, “No problem, wouldn’t want you to get hypothermia or anything.” He joked.

They arrived at her door, both wishing that the night didn’t have to end already. Jemma unlocked her door and stepped inside. “Huh, thought Skye would be in tonight.” She frowned, looking around. She found a note taped to the wall:

_“Bobbi and Hunter had another fight, staying at hers tonight to cheer her up. Hunter’s at Fitz and Mack’s place._

_-Skye”_

She pulled it from the wall and handed it to Fitz, “Can’t those two go one day without falling out?” He sighed, “Going home to Hunter ranting all night isn’t gonna be fun.” He moaned.

“Well, you could always stay here. We’ve got a free sofa and according to Hunter, it’s very comfortable.” She laughed.

“He sleeps on it enough to know, I just hope mine can live up to his high standard.” He said, “And that would be fantastic, thank you.”

Jemma let him through the door and closed it behind them. “Anyway, I’m exhausted so I’m going to head off to bed if that ok?”

“Yeah, of course. I really enjoyed tonight.” He thanked her.

“Me too.” She hugged him tightly, ensuring that she remembered the way he smelt. Like chocolate and vanilla. They pulled slightly apart, his arms resting around her waist, hers around his shoulders. Their usual awkwardness around physical contact blurred by the little alcohol they had had. Slowly, they each leaned in, lips meeting in the middle.

Fitz felt butterflies explode inside of him. He deepened the kiss and soon it became filled with desire. She moved her hands across his back and pulled him closer, revelling at the feel of his beating heat against hers. She brought her hands round and began unbuttoning his shirt.

Fitz pulled apart. “Jem.” He panted, hands cupping her face as he looked deep into her eyes.

“Fitz.” She smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And it begins! Sorry this is up late but I didn't have a chance to write it yesterday. :)


	10. Escape Plan

The sunlight shining in through the curtains woke Jemma up. The memories of last night flooding back to her. She grinned uncontrollably as she leaned back into Fitz’s embrace, wishing the feeling of his breathe against her neck, his bare chest against her back and his arm around her waist never had to end.

Fitz muttered something sleepily but was muffled by her hair. He used his free hand to sweep it out of the way. “G’morning.” His voice was hoarse having just woken up, exaggerating his accent.

Jemma turned over to face him, “Good Morning” she whispered, placing a light kiss on his lips. Their faces scrunched up in disgust, “Maybe not until we’ve brushed our teeth.”

Fitz nodded in agreement. “Yep. I can’t believe we- uh- y’know…” he trailed off.

“Yeah… what do we do now? I mean, do we have to tell people? Because I may have to kill Skye if we do, she’d be unbearable.” She asked.

“I guess we kind of have to.” Jemma looked disappointed at this. “Although,” he said, kissing her neck before continuing “we could see how long we could keep our relationship secret for.”

“I do like that idea.” Jemma smiled at him, “So we’re in a relationship, are we?”

“I guess we are.” He said, all efforts to hide his joy had been given up.

The sound someone unlocking and entering the front door rang out ealarm bells in their minds. “Skye.” Jemma looked at Fitz, panic in her eyes. “I don’t care if we tell her about us or not, but she is definitely not going to discover it for herself.”

Fitz nodded in agreement.

“Jemma, are you not up yet? It’s half ten.” Skye shouted through the apartment. Footsteps sounded out, coming closer to Jemma’s bedroom door.

Jemma pointed at her wardrobe, picking up Fitz’s clothes from the floor and throwing them in there with him.

Skye knocked on the door. “Jemma? I’m coming in so you better be wearing something.”

Jemma panicked, tying her dressing gown tightly around her. “One second.” She shouted back to Skye, taking a last look around the room to make sure that there were no traces of Fitz. Satisfied, she opened the door and tried her best to look normal. “Hey, how were things with Bobbi last night?”

“She’s doing ok, sounds like it was just another petty argument. Is this Fitz’s?” Skye held up his jacket.

  1. “Uh, yeah I think it is. It was pretty cold on the way back so he gave me it. Must have forgotten to give it back to him.” She lied.



Skye frowned at her. “Ok…” She shook her head slightly, as if she had thrown a thought away and returned to a neutral expression. “How was last night?”

“Good, the restaurant was lovely, but I think I drank too much. Hence the sleeping-in.”

“And how was Fitz, any progress with that?” She interrogated.

“Skye I’ve told you before, we’re just friends. Ok?”

“Ok.” Skye nodded and disappeared off, probably to the fridge.

Jemma closed her door and exhaled, leaning back against her door. “You can come out now.” She whispered to her wardrobe. Fitz tumbled out, now wearing his shirt, unbuttoned, and his trousers. Jemma frowned at him, “How did you get dressed in there?” She asked, genuinely confused.

Fitz chuckled, wrapping his arms around her waist once again. “I’m surprisingly nimble.” He said in a hushed voice.

“I’ll have to remember that.” She whispered back to him, flirting. Then she changed to a more serious tone, “You need to sneak out though. I’ll distract Skye while you run out. Then come back in two hours for your jacket.”

“Ok, call me just after I leave though, that way Skye can’t have any suspicions and I get to talk to you so win win.” He smiled at her, unable to stop jumping in the air yelling celebrations in his head.

Jemma was doing just the same thing. “What will you tell Mack?” She asked.

Fitz waved his hand in the air. “Him and Hunter will probably have been too pissed to remember anything so I’ll just insist that I was in my room. As for the outfit, I remembered we needed milk so put on last night’s clothes rather than get clean ones out to go to the shop.”

“You really are a genius” She kissed him, not caring that their breath smelt like someone had died. Fitz just hummed in agreement, returning the kiss.

Two hours later and Fitz was knocking on Jemma’s door.

“That’ll be Fitz.” She said to Skye, walking over to the door. So far their plan had worked perfectly. She opened the door and the sight of Fitz leaning against the doorframe made her stomach flip.

“Hey Jem. You said you had my jacket?” he played along.

“Yeah, come in.” She went to pick up the jacket from the sofa arm and gave it to him, letting her hand brush against his. “I’m just about to head into town if I’m just about to head into town if you’re free?” She asked, even though she knew the answer having asked him earlier.

“Sure. Mack’s incredibly hung over so isn’t much fun anyway. Skye, I heard you had Bobbi to deal with last night.” He raised his voice slightly so she could hear properly.

“Yeah but she drank most of the wine. I’ve done this enough times to know not to drink with her and instead listen to her ramble on about him for a few hours.”

Fitz laughed, “I’ll give Mack that advice for next time.” He turned to Jemma, “You ready to go now or do you need time?”

“I’m good to go.” She picked up her coat on the way out, saying bye to Skye.

The two walked in silence until they reached the lift, where they practically jumped on each other. They were so distracted by each other’s presence that they didn’t notice the lift stopping and the doors opening. A rough looking Lance Hunter stood staring into the lift at the sight of Fitzsimmons kissing. “Well this was unexpected.” He said, startling them out of their trance-like state.

Fitz and Jemma yelped and scrambled, getting as far away from each other as possible As if that would hide what had just happened.

 _“So much for a secret relationship”_ Fitz thought as he looked at Hunter’s smirking expression.

 


	11. Day 1

Fitz wrenched Hunter into the lift with them, waiting for the doors to close before he spoke. “Hunter, listen to me. You can’t tell _anyone_ about this.” He whisper in an urgent tone.

“Especially not Skye.” Jemma added, Fitz nodded at her addition.

Hunter laughed at them, unable to stop once he saw how serious Fitzsimons’ faces were “Stop worrying, I’m not going to say anything, I promise.” They relaxed in response, glad that they didn’t have to announce their relationship after only 10 hours. “But I do want to know what happened to turn ‘completely oblivious Fitzsimmons’ into ‘sexy-times Fitzsimmons’.”

Jemma sighed at her friend’s childishness, “Dinner, alcohol, close-proximity. You get the gist of it.” She frowned at him, mind suddenly switching subjects “You better not be planning on staying in my apartment again. You can’t just move in whenever you and Bobbi fallout.”

Hunter rubbed the back of his neck absent-mindedly, “Actually, I was just headed up there to apologise. Start a fresh and all that. I’m fed up with all the fighting over petty things.”

“You’re not the only one.” Fitzsimmons said in unison, smiling at each other when they realised.

The lift doors opened again, still on the bottom floor. The three smiled at a woman getting in and Fitzsimmons got out, taking one last look at Hunter before he went up “You never saw anything, ok?” Fitz confirmed.

Hunter saluted him, “Scouts honour, mate.” Then the doors closed and left Jemma and Fitz standing beside the main door in disbelief.

“How long d’you think he’ll manage before telling someone?” Fitz asked.

“He’ll get through today, but by tomorrow morning everyone will know. If not from him then by us.” She replied.

Fitz looked at her, “You want to tell Skye, don’t you?” He asked despite already being sure of the answer.

Jemma cringed slightly, “I think we have to. She’d never forgive me if she heard it from Bobbi rather than me.” She took his hand in hers and started walking “We can still have the rest of the afternoon though.”

* * *

They had chosen to go to the cinema instead of walking around the shops, deeming it harder to be seen by someone they knew at a screening of _Age of Ultron_. It was 4pm when they walked out, in a drugged-like state after the intensity of the film.

“That was amazing! Though mostly scientifically inaccurate.” Jemma began to drabble on about the various things that weren’t 100% accurate.

But for the first time she had someone there who cared as much as her and would scrutinise similar things. He smiled at her. Amazed by how beautiful her passion for her interests was. He checked his phone for the time, “We should probably head back. Its 4 already and we’ve left Hunter on his own with his information for too long.”

“Yeah, I guess so. I just hope Skye doesn’t get too weird about it, she’s been obsessing over the idea of us together since we met.”

Fitz stopped, “Hold on, ‘since we first met’” Jemma turned to him, smiling at the fact that he was finally realising the impact he had on her that day. “So do you properly remember that? I thought you just recognised me because you had a good memory.”

“Oh, Fitz. Of course I remembered you. I’ve had a crush on you since the moment you talked to me.” She grinned reminiscently at the memory.

“You had a crush on me since then?!” His voice had risen several octaves over the course of that sentence.

Jemma nodded, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him into a kiss. “How could I ever forget someone as cute as you.”

Fitz stared at her, in shock. “But you’re amazing! How could you ever feel that way about _me_ when we first met? I mean you’re beautiful!” He clasped a hand over his mouth. “Pretend I didn’t say that.” He said through his fingers.

Jemma smiled brilliantly again, “You really think that?”

He blushed, staring down at his feet in embarrassment. “Yeah- of course I do, Jemma.”

Jemma pushed his head up, kissing him harder than she’d kissed anyone before. When the kiss broke, Fitz was breathless. “Best. Girlfriend. Ever.” He panted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry that I haven't been updating this week! I've just had so much homework so all my spare time's been taken up with that. I'm going to write as much as I can this weekend so at least I have chapters I can post if I don't have time. Again, please leave any thoughts on this chapter in the comments. Thanks :)


	12. The Big Reveal

**Jemma’s apartment**

“Hi Skye. Can talk to you for a second?” Jemma asked nervously as she walked into her apartment. She’d sent Fitz home to tell Mack.

“If this is about the ice-cream you’d written your name on then you should be talking to Hunter. I may have eaten some already but he was the one who finished it.” She defended.

Jemma frowned. “No, it’s not about the ice-cream. Though it is nice to know it wasn’t all you for once. I was actually needing to tell you something.”

Skye’s face flooded with worry, “Wait, this isn’t about the doctor’s appointment you had awhile back is it?”

“No, I’m fine Skye. It’s nothing bad.” She sat down next to her on the sofa. “It’s, ummm- it’s about Fitz and I.” she said, hoping Skye would take the hint but she was still confused. “Well, last night Mack was dealing with Hunter and Fitz knew they’d be unbearably drunk so I said he could sleep on our sofa so he didn’t have to deal with it.” She looked up at Skye, who was starting to get the idea now. “And, very basically, he didn’t exactly sleep on the sofa.”

Skye jumped up in excitement. “Woah woah woah! Are you saying what I think you’re saying?!” She was practically shouting this.

“Yes, I am.” She sighed at what was about to come next from Skye. “Fitz and I just started dating.”

Skye screamed like a kid on Christmas day who’d just seen their presents. “Oh my god! This is amazing! Fitzsimmons are dating!” She jumped around the room, then stopped suddenly. “That means Fitz was here this morning when I came through! I knew something was different about you.”

Jemma nodded, letting Skye get it all out of her system.

Skye slammed a hand onto her mouth, then moved it away to talk. “You had sex with Fitz! You have to tell me everything. I mean, I don’t think I want to know _everything_ because Fitz is still my friend but-“

Jemma cut her off by frantically waving her hands in the air. “No, no, no. We didn’t actually have sex, Skye. I mean, we made out pretty much all night and were pretty much naked by we didn’t go _that_ far.”

“Wait, why not? You two have been crushing on each other for ages so what stopped you?” She asked.

“Fitz didn’t want our first time together to be while we were even slightly drunk. So it’d be special, you know?”

Skye awed at this, still buzzing from the news. “That’s really cute.”

Jemma smiled to herself, “Yeah, it is.”

“You still need to tell me everything though. It’s the rules of having a best friend.”

* * *

**Fitz’s apartment**

Fitz unlocked his door, not at all ready for what the conversation he was about to have with Mack. He was used to hiding his emotions from Mack, not revealing them.

“Hey, Turbo. Do you have any more painkillers? This headache isn’t budging.” Mack asked him as soon as he’d stepped into the apartment.

“You can’t have any more for a couple of hours. And maybe you should have thought about that before you decided to help Hunter drink away his sorrows.”

“I’ve learnt my lesson though, never drink with Hunter when he’s worked up about Bobbi.”

Fitz closed the door and moved over to where Mack was sitting in the kitchen. He sat down on one of the stools, ready to talk. “I need to tell you something.” Mack sat up intently. “Um, I’m not sure exactly how to word this. But, in the simplest of terms, me and Jem have started dating.”

Mack broke out into a smile and hit Fitz on the back in congratulations, “Well done, man.” Fitz rubbed his back tenderly from where Mack had hit him, unaware of how strong he really is. “You have to tell me how though, because I never thought you’d do it, if I’m honest.”

Fitz blushed, “I’ll have to do it on the way to hers though. I promised I’d come over to save her from Skye.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Over 50 kudos!!! Thank you so much to everyone who has left them. And a special thank you to lost-in-my-own-littleworld for sending me a message on tumblr because you motivated me to keep writing this :)


	13. Protocol

Jemma knocked sheepishly on her boss’s office door. “Sorry to bother you, Dr Weaver, but could I talk to you for a minute?”

Weaver looked up from the file she was reading, “Of course, Jemma.” But when she saw how nervous Jemma was acting she frowned, “Is something wrong?”

“No, no I’m fine. It’s more of an update for my file that I thought you would need to know about.”

“Ok…” Weaver paused, trying to gauge what was to come. “Then please take a seat.” Jemma obliged as Weaver took some paper, presumably Jemma’s, out of an old looking folder marked ‘Employee Information: Confidential’. She clicked her pen and gestured for Jemma to begin.

“I’ve been meaning to tell you this but wasn’t sure how to phrase it or what the procedures are” Jemma was practically squirming in her seat by this point, “But basically, Fitz and I have recently entered into a relationship with each other.” She felt instantly better now that she had said it.

Weaver smiled at her, “Congratulations, Jemma. Unfortunately this will require a different form and Fitz will need to be here to go over some things. Apart from that though, there are no rules that say S.H.I.E.L.D. employees cannot date.”

Jemma sighed in relief, “I can call Fitz and ask him to come in. He should only take half an hour at most to get here.”

Weaver nodded and allowed Jemma to leave and phone him, then continue working until his arrival.

* * *

Fitz walked over to his and Jemma’s workspace, thinking about how cute she was when she was concentrating. Her tongue stuck out slightly and her hair tied up with any loose strands tucked behind her ears. “Hey.” He said softly, careful not to make her jump since he knew how engrossed she could get in her work.

She turned around to see him, “Hey.” She replied, itching to kiss him but she knew she had to stay professional when they were at work. Even if Fitz technically wasn’t _at_ work.

“Fitzsimmons, are you ready?” Came Dr Weaver’s voice from her door.

Fitz looked at her, raising his eyebrows as a question, she nodded. When they got into her office, weaver told them to sit down then began running through the formalities. After she was finished reciting the rules involved she pushed a form over to their side of the desk. “Signing this means that you officially state that your personal relationship will not disturb your productivity and that you will remain professional during work hours.” She waited for each of them to sign it and then took it back. “Right then. I need to get this photocopied and officially filed. But, unofficially, can I ask how long this has been going on for?”

“Three weeks. We would have come to you earlier but we wanted to make sure we worked before making anything too official.” Fitz explained as Jemma nodded.

After a few minutes of talking, they left her office. “So that went well.” Fitz said.

“I know, I was so worried she’d say it wasn’t allowed and one of us would have to leave.”

They continued talking all the way back to Fitz’s apartment. Jemma had only stayed at Fitz’s once before since Fitz always argued that his bedroom usually looked like a bombsite and he didn’t have the time to be cleaning it every time before she stayed over. But Mack was away tonight so they took the opportunity of a night alone, without Skye pestering them.

“Pizza or Chinese takeaway?” Fitz asked, looking for the menus he had put in one off the kitchen drawers.

“Pizza?” Jemma suggested, she’d been craving pizza all day.

“I was hoping you’d chose that.” He finally found the menu and gave it to Jemma “You can pick what kind, you know what I like anyway. I’m just nipping to the toilet so I’ll be back in a second.” He kissed her on the cheek and left her to order.

Fitz locked the bathroom door, relieved his bladder, and then washed his hands. He stared at himself in the mirror for a second, “You can do this, Fitz.” He talked to himself. “It’s only Jemma, and you’ve been dating for three weeks now so you can’t leave it any longer to tell her.”


	14. The Talk

Fitz emerged from the bathroom. The blood had drained from his cheeks leaving him very pale, and he was shaking from nerves. Jemma ran over to him as soon as he saw the state he was in. “Oh my god. Fitz are you ok? You look terrible.” She fussed over him, checking his temperature and using her medical abilities to give him as much of an examination as she could with him shrugging her off.

“Yeah I- I’m fine. I just need to tell you something is all.” He licked his lips and sat down on one of the kitchen stools. “Um, I probably should have said something about this before and it’s been three weeks now so you must be suspecting something.” He would have continued if he hadn’t been interrupted by the phone ringing.

Jemma rubbed his arm comfortingly, “I’ll get that.” She said softly. She picked up the ringing phone and clicked on answer. “Hello?... It’s the building opposite the leisure centre… OK, thank you.” She cut the call off as soon as she could. “Sorry, their internets down so they couldn’t get directions here. Listen to me, Fitz. Whatever you’re about to say, it won’t matter to me. Ok?”

Fitz nodded, concentrating on a patch of the floor rather than looking at her. “It’s just embarrassing more than anything.” He sighed, reading himself for what he was about to tell her. “I figured that you’re probably wondering why we haven’t actually had sex yet. It’s not because I want to make sure our first time is special. I mean, I do but this is unrelated really. The reason I’ve been putting it off is that I haven’t done _it_ before.” His previously pale complexion had been exchanged for a very red one.

Jemma smiled at him, relieved. “Oh, Fitz.” She giggled slightly, “I couldn’t care less. What’s important is that you want to, and even if you don’t then that’s fine too. I’m not your girlfriend just so we can have sex. I’m your girlfriend because you really are the best person I’ve ever met.” She paused, contemplating her next words. “And, to be honest with you, I think I’ve fallen in love with you.”

Fitz’s eyes widen at her last words.

“Oh god! No, Fitz. I’m so sorry. I knew it was too soon but I-“

Who knows how longs she would’ve kept panicking if Fitz hadn’t pulled her into the best kiss of her life. She slid her arms round his back and marvelled at the feel of his shoulder blades moving under her touch. Fitz had tangled his hands in her hair, brushing it back to get a better look at her when they broke apart.

“I think I’ve fallen in love with you too, Jem.”

She searched his eyes for any trace of a lie but found nothing. She grinned madly at him and kissed him again. They stood up from their seats without breaking the kiss as Fitz pulled her over to the sofa. She leaned into the kiss more, until they were lying on top of each other.  Fitz reached down to unbutton her jeans just as the doorbell rang. He stopped his hand and forced it to move away with the rest of his body as he stood up and stomped his way to the door. “Can’t a guy do anything without being interrupted?” He muttered, yanking open the door and trudging down the stairs to collect their food.

This left Jemma grinning on her own. Anticipation of the night ahead overwhelming her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayyyyy I finally got to put the title into it! :)


	15. Post Sexy Times

**Fitz’s apartment**

“You were right about being a fast learner.” Jemma breathed as Fitz downed a bottle of water so desperately anyone would have thought that he hadn’t had anything to drink in days.

“Comes with being a rocket scientist.” He laughed, putting the bottle down and wrapping his arms around his girlfriend. He suddenly became wary, “I did do everything ok though, right?”

Jemma cleared her throat and nuzzled into the curve of his neck, “Definitely.” She whispered comfortingly into his ear.

“Good. And you were… umm… well” He struggled to find the right word to describe the wonder of what he’d just experienced “Frankly amazing.”

Jemma giggled like a schoolgirl at this comment. “Thank you.” She leant up to kiss him, the tingly feeling that engulfed her body every time they touched still as strong as it were during their first kiss.

Fitz’s stomach grumbled loudly, making Jemma pull away.

“Sorry” He cringed, wishing his hunger wouldn’t betray him like that.

“It is getting late, I’ll go heat up the pizza from earlier. We could watch some _Doctor Who_ while we eat it?” She suggested.

“I knew there was a reason I fell in love with you, Jemma Simmons.”

She kissed him on the cheek and climbed out of bed, pulling on a t-shirt and underwear in case Mack decided to make an unscheduled appearance.

Fitz smiled to himself. Jemma couldn’t have been better about his ‘lack of experience’ as she’d referred to it. He sighed contently and slipped out of bed, picking his boxer up from the floor and stepping into them. He then walked through to the bathroom to clean himself up.

The landline rang while he was in there. He shouted through for Jemma to answer it as he quickly put some clothes on. He jogged into the main part of the apartment to find Jemma chatting away happily on the phone.

“Here he is, I’ll pass you over.” Jemma held out the phone for him “It’s you’re Mum.” She told him.

Fitz put the phone up to his ear, “Hi Mum. Yeah that’s Jemma.” He walked through to his room again so he could talk to his Mum without the distraction of Jemma wandering around his kitchen in a small t-shirt and underwear.

Ten minutes later Fitz hung up the phone and came back through to see Jemma taking the pizza out of the oven.

“Not quite as good as freshly delivered, and the edges are a bit burnt now but pizza is pizza.” She shrugged. “How is your Mum?” she asked.

Fitz rubbed the back of his neck. “Good, yeah. She wants me go up there this weekend for a family party type thing.” He paused, thinking whether or not his next sentence was a good idea. “And, I know it’s only early days, but she wants me to bring you. Only if you want to come though.”

Jemma hugged him enthusiastically. “A weekend of your embarrassing childhood photos? How could I resist!”

Fitz smiled down at her “Really? You don’t think it’s too soon or anything? I want you to come but I was worried it would weird you out a bit.”

“We’ve hardly been conventional when it comes to how long to wait for things.” She kissed him before picking up the plate with pizza on it and taking it to the sofa. Fitz sat down next to her and let her snuggle up against him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1500 hits!!!!!! Thank you so much for reading this and leaving kudos and comments :)


	16. The Journey

**Jemma’s apartment**

Skye hugged Jemma goodbye, “Good luck, Jemma.”

Jemma laughed at her, “I’m going away for one weekend, not forever.” She said.

“Still, meeting the parents is a big step. At this rate, you’ll move out and find somewhere to live with him and leave me here within a few weeks.” Skye may have been joking when she said this, but really she knew it would happen soon enough.

“Don’t joke about things like that Skye. I know we’re moving faster than most people but that’s a long way off.”

“Sorry.” Skye apologised. “Just remember to call me when you get there, Glasgow’s a long journey.”

Just then the doorbell rang, Jemma opened it and let Fitz in.

“Hey, Jem.” He said, kissing her on the cheek as he walked in. “Ready to go?”

“Think so.” She hugged Skye again, “I’ll see you on Monday.”

Skye nodded, “Have fun.” She said to both of them, watching as Fitz helped Jemma to carry the bags down to the taxi. She closed the door after them and went to make dinner for one.

* * *

 

Fitz watched Jemma as she gazed out of the train window, deep in thought. He reached his hand out to touch hers, rubbing his thumb up and down the top of her hand. “Are you OK?” he asked softly.

Jemma nodded. “Yeah. Just something Skye said.”

“Jem, if you’re worried about meeting my Mum then you really don’t need to be. She’ll love you just as much as I do.” He smiled compassionately at her.

Jemma shook her head slightly. “It’s not that. I am a bit nervous about meeting her but… but that’s not what I’m worried about.”

Fitz’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion, if Jemma wasn’t so concentrated on finding the right way to say what she needed to then she would have noticed how cute he looked.

“Then what is it?” He asked, squeezing her hand in support.

Jemma sighed, staring down at her hands. _God was this going to be hard s_ he thought.

“I love you, Fitz. More than anything. But I’m just worried that we are moving too fast.”

Fitz froze. It took a few seconds for him to recover enough to speak. “Jemma, if you don’t want to come this weekend then you don’t have to. Everyone will understand.”

“No, no. I really do want to come, and I’m fine with how fast we’re going. This is the happiest I think I’ve ever been. I just don’t want us to do anything too soon and it to turn out that we weren’t ready for it.”

“What did Skye say?” He asked, nervous as to where this conversation was heading.

Jemma sighed, realising how silly it really was. “She was joking about us moving in together.”

Fitz laughed. He tried to hold it in but couldn’t help it. “Jem, we’re not going to be doing anything like that right now. I love you, and I love spending time with you. But trust me when I say we’ll make 100 per cent sure that we’re ready when that happens.”

Jemma smiled at him, “So you’re saying you can see us moving in together.”

Fit cursed himself for revealing that. “That’s not what I meant. I just mean that-“

“Because I can see us living together, too.”              

Fitz looked at his girlfriend, grinning from ear to ear. “Yeah?” he asked.

“Yeah.” She slid out of her seat and across to the one next to Fitz, kissing him as soon as she was close enough.

She moved back into her original seat when they had finished. Trying to tame her smile but failing.

“Just to clarify. What we said means we both see us having a future, but we’re not moving in together right now?” Fitz questioned.

“Oh, yeah. As much as I’d love to, I know it’s too soon to be doing anything as big as that.” She nodded, making sure they were both on the same page.

“Right. Yeah, that’s what I thought.” He took her hand back in his and looked out of the window. “Shouldn’t be long until we’re there.” He pointed out.


	17. Welcome Home, Leopold

Fitz stood at the back of a taxi, hauling their luggage into the boot of the car, while Jemma stood to the side on the phone to Skye.

“Hi Skye, just letting you know that we’re in Glasgow now… No I haven’t seen any kilts yet, you really need to stop with the stereotypes… Yes I know you were joking… Alright, I’ll call you again later.” She hung up the phone and came over to see if Fitz was ready.

“Skye ok?” He asked, closing the boot.

“Yeah, she worries so much you would think she’s my Mum though.”

“She still thinks you’re going to get stabbed doesn’t she” Fitz said, they got into the back of the taxi and told the driver where to go.

“You really shouldn’t have told her that Glasgow is the most violent place in the UK.” Jemma advised him.

The drive to Fitz’s childhood home took just under 45 minutes, when they arrived it was 11pm. Jemma paid the driver and Fitz got the bags from the boot, carrying them up to the door. The house was a semi-detached one, surrounded by ones that all looked essentially identical. She followed Fitz to the door and waited while he unlocked it. They walked in together, Fitz left the bags at the bottom of the stairs.

“Mum” he shouted, “That’s me here.”

Jemma looked up the stairs to see a short woman with dark blonde hair cut off slightly above shoulder length, she wore light blue pyjama bottoms and a black cardigan over a white t-shirt. Jemma stepped back to let her hug her son.

“Welcome home, Leopold. Oh look how grown up you’re looking!” Fitz’s mother exclaimed “Is this stubble? Honestly, it feels like yesterday when you were starting primary school and now you’ve got a job in England.”

Fitz blushed at his mother’s fussing, he gestured to Jemma to try and avert her attention away from him. “Mum, this is my girlfriend Jemma. Jem, this is my mum.”

She turned to Jemma, hugging her just as tight as she had Fitz. “Hello! It’s lovely to meet you, please, call me Gail.”

Jemma smiled at her, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Gail. Sorry we arrived so late, we couldn’t get out of work early.”

Gail waved her hand dismissively, “Don’t worry about it. Now, do you need anything to eat or drink? I’ve set up Leopold’s room for you two upstairs.”

“We ate on the train so I think we’ll just head up to bed.” Fitz told her, hugging her goodnight and taking the bags upstairs.

“Goodnight.” Jemma nodded to Gail before following her boyfriend.

Fitz stood at the top of the stairs in front of a door that had a colourful plaque with his name on it. The bags were already inside the room. “Before we go in there” He looked her dead in the eye “You have to promise me not to laugh.”

“I promise.” She said, curious about what he was so embarrassed about.

“OK.” He nodded, pushing open the door to let her in.

Jemma gasped when she walked in, trying to disguise a giggle. She looked around the room. Every surface held some kind of tool, from a set of tiny screwdrivers to a soldering iron, and his walls were plastered with drawings of Fitz’s ideas. “Wow.” She whispered.

“Yes. Yes I am a massive nerd.” He admitted, watching her look at each of his drawings one by one.

She pointed to one of them, “What’s this?” she asked.

“It’s an idea for a gun that instantly paralyses people, like a taser but more effective.” He explained “I’ve always wanted to make it but I couldn’t figure out what to administer in the bullets.”

Jemma frowned, thinking through ideas. “What about dendrotoxin?” She suggested. “It would be difficult to create such an instant paralysis with the small dose but I’m sure that we could figure out a way to fix that if we worked together.”

Fitz stared in awe at her. “That’s…” He could barely put into words how it felt to have an invention that he had been thinking about since he was eleven. “That is amazing. _You_ are amazing!” He gripped her in a tight hug, kissing her as he brought his arms to rest on her hips. “How the hell did I even manage to get you?”

“I could say the same thing.” She said, giving him a short peck on the lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I won't be able to post a new chapter tomorrow because I'm away all day. I hope you like this chapter :)


	18. Breakfast Wars

Jemma woke to the loud beeping of Fitz phone as well as a tired groan and muffled “why” as she he rolled over to silence the alarm.

“What time is it?” Jemma said through a yawn, stretching out before pulling Fitz back and snuggling into him.

“6am.” He answered, fighting the urge to hold Jemma closer and fall back to much needed sleep. “I thought it would be a nice idea to cook my mum breakfast but in reality it was a horrible, horrible idea. He felt Jemma smile against his bare chest.

“Leo Fitz, you are unbearably adorable.” She whispered as she leant up to kiss him on the cheek. “And I am going to help you because you are a _terrible_ cook.”

He pretended to look hurt, “Excuse you but I am excellent at cooking. Why else would the smoke alarm be cheering me on every time?” He looked down at her and tucked her hair behind her ears. As much as it pained him to abandon such a perfect moment, he pushed back the covers and swung his legs out of bed. Jemma followed suit then, remembering that she hadn’t put any pyjamas on, started searching through her bag. After some rummaging she yanked out her neatly folded pyjamas and put them on. Fitz let out a sad “Aw” when he turned around.

“Hey, I could have worn them last night too.” She told him. He thought about this for a second before nodding to himself in decision that he preferred no-clothes Jemma to fully-clothed Jemma.

Once Jemma had tamed her bedhead and Fitz had patted his down to no avail, they creaked the door open and crept downstairs, determined not to wake his mother. Now downstairs, they deemed it acceptable to talk at a normal volume.

“What do you want to make?” She asked him.

Fitz shrugged, “I was thinking pancakes with bacon and eggs but we need to check the cupboards first. She generally only eats toast or cereal if she’s not making anything for me.”

“You do eat a frankly disturbing amount of food.” She commented, only to earn a glare from Fitz. A joking glare, but a glare all the same.

Fitz opened one of the overhead cupboards and Jemma checked the fridge.

“Ok, we’ve got enough flour, what’s the fridge situation?” Fitz said, reaching up and taking a bag of flour out then opening a few drawers and getting mixing bowls, scales and a whisk.

Jemma appeared next to him with eggs, milk and bacon, dropping it all into a pile and then sorting everything into what they needed first. She cracked two eggs into a bowl and gave Fitz instructions for milk and flour measurements. Soon enough they had already nearly finished cooking the pancakes, working together like a well-oiled machine. Fitz busied himself with cleaning up and putting away so he didn’t get in her way. Picking up the flour, a mischievous grin spread across his face. He put his hand into the bag and took out a small handful of flour.

“That’s all the batter used, I’ll put them in the oven to keep them warm.” She said, more to herself than anyone else.

Flour still in hand, Fitz waited until she had closed the oven door before walking up behind her and blowing all of the flour off of his hand and all over Jemma.

Jemma squealed slightly. She put on her best ‘serious face’ and turned around. “Fitz.” She said sternly, whilst walking slowly to the flour bag. “Are you trying to initiate a baking fight?”

Fitz shook his head, still grinning.

Suddenly Jemma grabbed a handful and threw it straight at him. The flour covered his face with powdery white and clouded in the air when he shook his head to get it out of his hair. Fitz ran to the cupboard and pulled out another bag. Now they were both equally weaponised the fight really began, with clouds of flour now filling the air as they ran circles around the kitchen.

“I’m out!” Jemma declared in a failed attempt to stop Fitz. Who just dumped the remaining contents of his bag onto her head.

“Same.” He laughed, sliding his arms around her waist and pulling her into a kiss. “We need to clean this up though.” He added.

Jemma nodded shaking the heap of flour off of her head and going to find a brush to sweep up with. Fitz focused on wiping down the surfaces. It took them a good twenty minutes and they had to put on the bacon and eggs partway through so they’d be ready in time, but they managed to get the room looking just as before. Although they were a whole other story, covered from head to toe in flour. They heard Fitz’s mother coming down the stairs and turned just as she entered the room.

“What’s all the commotion ab…” She trailed off as she took in the sight of her son and his girlfriend “Oh my.” She exclaimed, laughing at the look of guilt on their faces. “You better have made something good because I won’t have you covering poor Jemma here in flour for no good reason.”

Fitz chuckled, then gestured to the nicely presented table of food behind them.

“Would you look at that,” She patted Jemma on the shoulder, “You taught my boy how to cook.”

“Oh, I don’t think I’d go that far. He’s still atrocious in the kitchen.” Laughed Jemma.

“Rude.” Fitz mumbled, sitting down at the table and plating up a heap of food for himself.

 Jemma waited for Gail to get up before leaning over to whisper to him, "The bedroom is a whole other story though." She winked at him as she straightened up, enjoying the redness that grew up from his neck to his cheeks at her comment.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had so much fun writing this so hopefully you all enjoyed it too :)


	19. Monkeys

Fitz swallowed his last forkful of pancake and washed it down with a large gulp of coffee. He leaned back into his chair in satisfaction, patting his stomach lightly. “What are the plans for today then?” he asked his mum.

“I was thinking Edinburgh Zoo. We haven’t been since before they got the pandas.” She said, getting up to clear the dishes.

“I’ll do those.” Jemma offered.

“It’s fine, Jemma. You cooked so I’ll clean. Those are the rules in this house.” She declined.

Fitz was getting visibly more excited by the minute. “Never mind the pandas, I heard that there’s some new baby squirrel monkeys!” The two women laughed at his reaction to the idea. He was already getting up from his seat to go get ready, “Come on, we’ll need to get going soon if we want it make it worth it!” He exclaimed, darting out of the room and up the stairs.

“Honestly Jemma. I don’t understand what you see in him.” Gail joked as she busied herself with dishwashing.

Jemma smiled to herself, mind suddenly awash with her love for her amazing boyfriend. “I do.” She whispered back, inaudible to anyone else. She then turned to follow Fitz upstairs.

She found Fitz walking across the landing with a towel wrapped around his waist. “That was fast. Although, if you had waited a few minutes then I could have joined you.” She winked at him, pulling him into his room by his towel.

“Jem, as much as I want to. And trust me, I really, really do. I would like to remind you that my mother is downstairs and this room is not in the slightest bit soundproof.”

Jemma laughed at him. “I was only kidding, Fitz. Anyway, I know how much you want to get going to see those baby monkeys.” She kissed him softly on the lips, lingering as they parted. “Love you.” She whispered, eyes still closed lightly.

“Love you too.” He smiled affectionately at her, tilting her chin up with his hand to kiss her again before getting dressed, Jemma watched him as he pulled a grey t-shirt over his head. “Go shower. I want to leave in half an hour.” He told her, waiting until she was out of the room to let his towel drop. She may have seen everything already but that did not stop his self-consciousness.

* * *

Fitz was uncontainable by the time they had pulled into the car park of the zoo. He sat in the back of the small car with Jemma, their hand interlocked for the whole journey, snatching glances at each other when they thought Gail wasn’t looking. The engine came to a stop and he jumped out of the car, twitching in impatience for the other two to join him. He led the way inside to pay and was waiting past the checkouts while they walked in. He looked around at the gift shop that was next to him, getting closer to a stand of stuffed toy monkeys with velcro on their hands to admire them. He wished to himself that he was younger so he could buy one without anyone thinking he was weird. Especially Jemma. He heard them approach and switched his attention, taking Jemma’s hand in his when she was close enough. “You didn’t half take long.” He said, pulling Jemma through the automatic doors and outside.

* * *

Much to Fitz’s dismay, it took them nearly two hours to get to the monkey enclosure. They walked up a long ramp until they reached a small building with fenced off areas outside of it. Jemma watched Fitz’s face, smiling at his happiness.

“I’m going to leave you two alone for a bit, I don’t want to be stuck staring at the same monkeys for ages anyway, so I will see you later. And Leo, if you try to steal one of those poor babies then so help me god I will disown you.” She laughed as she walked off, even though it was highly likely that Fitz would try at least once.

Fitz grinned at Jemma as they entered the building. Inside was a pathway that passed three windows that showed the monkeys inside their enclosure. Fitz stopped at the first one, pointing to any ones he deemed to be extra-cute (which was basically all of them). “Did you know that squirrel monkeys are one of the smartest monkeys?” He recited, switching holding hands for an arm around her waist in order to pull her closer. She leaned into his embrace.

“I did not.” She answered, revilling in the fact that everyone around knew they were a couple. _That’s right_ she thought _I managed to get the most perfect boyfriend in the world_.

Despite wanting to see these monkeys all day, Fitz couldn’t help but be distracted by how beautiful Jemma was when she was huddled into him. “These may be cute but they’re nothing on you.” He told her, instantly regretting how cheesy it sounded.

Jemma beamed up at him, hooking her hand around the back of his neck to pull him down for a kiss, “I love you so much, Leo Fitz.” She whispered to him, not bothered by the looks of disapproval people were giving them.

Sadly however, they were interrupted by a man of approximately their age. “Leo, is that you?” The man exclaimed.

Fitz looked up at him, eyes widening in realisation of who it was. “Callum?” He asked.

“Jesus Leo, I haven’t seen you in ten years. How’ve you been?” Callum asked him.

_Schoolfriend_ Jemma concluded.

“Uh, yeah I’m good. Finished my PhD and started working in research. You?”

“Just took over my dad’s shop, business is doing pretty good.” He looked at Jemma, “Are you going to introduce me?”

“Oh, yeah. Callum, this is my girlfriend Jemma. Jem, this is Callum, my best friend from school.”

Jemma shook his hand, “Nice to meet you.” She said.

Callum turned to Fitz, “Well done man. You’ve done well here.” He laughed.

Fitzsimmons reddened. “Uh, thanks I guess. Listen, there’s a family gathering thing at my mum’s tomorrow night if you can come. It’d be good to properly catch-up.” Fitz offered him.

Callum nodded, “Sounds good to me. I have to go right now though, I’m taking my little cousin around for his birthday and don’t want to lose him.” He said, jogging off in search of said cousin.

“Bye.” Fitz shouted after him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nearly 2000 hits! Thank you so much to everyone for reading this, and sorry I didn't update sooner :)


	20. Party Time

Jemma looked herself up and down in the mirror for the hundredth time in the last five minutes, each time she would slightly change something- tucking and untucking her top from her jeans, hair up, hair down, and so on. Her latest thing was smile practising, trying desperately to get the right mix between ‘nice to meet you’ and ‘psychotically happy’. She checked her watch again and tapped her fingers against her right leg nervously. She heard Fitz come in in but didn’t turn around. His hand rested soothingly on her shoulder.

“Jem?” He asked gently, “Are you feeling ok?”

She looked at his reflection in the mirror, “I’m fine.” She insisted, reaching up to touch his hand.

“No you’re not. You’ve been standing in front of this mirror for ages. Look, you have nothing to be nervous about. Trust me.”

She turned around and started fiddling with his jumper, “Really?” she asked.

He ran his thumb tenderly along her jawline. “Really. And anyway, if my family don’t like you then no big deal. I can just run off with you and never come back.”

The start of a smile twitched its way onto her face. “OK.” She nodded.

Fitz chuckled at her, placing a kiss on top of her head. She smiled at the feeling. “There” He pointed to her mouth. “That’s the smile you should use. Now come downstairs because people will start arriving soon.”

Jemma sighed, taking his offered hand before being led downstairs. The house had been decorated with a few balloons that Fitz had tied to various pieces of furniture. The smell of the small buffet table wafted them as they came down the final step. Jemma and Gail had spent the day cooking all sorts of food, from brownies to homemade mini sausage rolls to little finger cakes- they had all bases covered. Fitz, however, had been given food duties that even he couldn’t mess up such as putting pre-cut squares of cheese and pineapple on sticks and jabbing smaller cocktail sticks into sausages. Although many of these sausages did mysteriously disappear.

The doorbell rang and Fitz went to answer it, tugging Jemma along with him. “Relax, you got through meeting my mum so you can do this too.” He told her before opening the door.

“Hi, Uncle Andy. It’s great to see you.” He exclaimed, letting him in. “This is Jemma.” He gestured to her.

Jemma shook the man’s hand “Hi, pleasure to meet you.” She said.

“Same here, Gail said Fitz hasn’t shut up about you for months.” Andy was a gangly looking man with a fringe of grey hair that he pushed back constantly and he wore an old pair of thinly framed glasses on his nose.

Jemma smirked at Fitz as the man wandered through to the kitchen to greet his sister. “Months? As in plural?” She teased.

“Alright, we both know I’ve liked you for way longer than we’ve been dating.”

Jemma grinned at him, “How long, exactly?” They had already had this conversation but it still thrilled her to hear him say it.

Fitz rolled his eyes, “You know how long.” He stepped closer to her so they could kiss, “Since I first met you.” He said, leaving her smirking alone in the hallway.

After ten minutes, everyone had arrived and people stood chatting over the background music. The worst part of introductions was over and she had survived it. “I told you everyone would love you.” Fitz said, walking over to her.

Jemma raised her eyebrows at him, “I wouldn’t go as far as love. You’re neighbour only seems to kind of like me.”

“Ugh no, I’ll just have to kill her before she spreads such negativity. Good thing she’s old because we can pin in on that.” He joked.

“Sounds like the only viable option to me. I’m just nipping up to the loo so I’ll be back in a minute.”

Fitz nodded, shouting “Miss you already” after her.

The doorbell rang shortly after she had gone upstairs. Fitz frowned, he was sure everyone was here already, but he shrugged it off and figured someone must have been late. He went to answer it and, seeing who it was, was stunned.

“Zoe?” He tried to sound natural but it came out as more of a high pitched squeak.

“Leo, hi. It’s been so long.” She said, almost sadly.

“What the hell are you doing here?!” He was nearly shouting, only keeping the volume down so that nobody else would notice. “You broke up with me after _two years_ together by _text_ then start spreading a whole load of lies about me for no reason. Then, oh and here’s the best part, you completely ignore me for ten years then turn up to a family party uninvited.” He had lowered his voice to a whisper now but his anger still rose.

She put her hand on the side of his arm but he shrugged her off. “I know, Leo. And I am so sorry, but we were just kids, we were still in high school for god’s sake! I was stupid and I’m sorry, Callum said he was here tonight and told me not to come but I needed to see you. I came here to ask you if you want to go get dinner together.”

“What the hell, Zoe!? I left school because of what you told people, it’s a miracle I ever got into uni. And I have a girlfriend now, so please will you just leave me alone.” He tried closing the door but she jammed her foot in it.

“Please, you’ve had a girlfriend for a month. How does that beat what we had? You didn’t even have any friends until I came along.”

“’what we had’? What we had was a high school relationship. Me and Jemma may have only been dating for a month but I love her more than anything in the world. So get out of my house.”

“Ugh, don’t feed me that line. You know that some part of you thinks we should give us a try, and I can prove it.” She grabbed his tie and pulled him into a kiss.

* * *

Jemma flushed the toilet and washed her hands, looking in the mirror she realised how red she was looking. There were so many people crammed into this house that the heat was getting ridiculous. She ran her hands under the cold tap and pressed them to her flushed cheeks, praying it didn’t ruin her make up. Once satisfied, she unlocked the door and headed back to the party. She was hallway down the stairs when her heart dropped to the floor. There was Fitz, the love of her life, kissing some other girl at the door. His arms were wrapped around her skinny little waist and hers around his shoulders. Jemma felt tears prick her eyes as she ran upstairs to hide.

* * *

Fitz heard thudding footsteps and turned around, seeing Jemma fleeing upstairs. “Oh god.” He let out, pushing Zoe away from him and running after her, taking the steps two at a time. “Jemma, wait. It isn’t what it looks like.” He burst into his room to find Jemma zipping up her bag, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“I know what I saw, Fitz. I’m going home. I’ll call Skye on the train and get her to pick me up when I get there.”

“Jemma, please no. It’ll be late by the time you get in, you can’t go alone!” He tried to persuade her but she wouldn’t listen. “I can explain.”

She shoved past him, “There’s no need. I understand what’s happening.”

Fitz followed her outside, it wasn’t quite dark yet but the sun was setting so it soon would be. “Please don’t go. I _love_ you. I would never cheat on you, I swear.” He tried to get a grip on her bag but she prised it from him.

“Yeah well it looks to me like you already did. Don’t follow me, I’ll be fine.” She shouted in a heavy sob as she made her way quickly down the street to find a taxi.

Fitz turned back to Zoe. “Get the hell out of here!” He yelled at her, she quickly scurried away as everyone from inside crowded outside to see what was happening. Fitz pushed past them all to get to his room. Once alone, he punched his pillows as much as he could before exhaustion hit him, forcing him to just curl up and cry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I am a horrible person who couldn't just let it be fluff all the way through :/


	21. Dr. Skye's breakup remedy

Jemma sat on the train back home, her tears had dried up and she was left with very red eyes and a streaming nose. Every now and then someone would come up and ask her if she was ok, each time she nodded and answered “Yes, just my allergies playing up.” With a forced smile on her face. Her phone went off so often with texts and phone calls from Fitz that she put it on silent, not wanting to hear whatever excuses he had made up. She was angry, upset and –above all else- missing Fitz. But she couldn’t give in to that, not after what had happened. She breathed out slowly, getting her voice under control enough to call Skye. She unlocked her phone without even glancing at any of his messages and opened her contacts, scrolling down a bit to find Skye’s number. She clicked on her contact and held the phone to her ear. I rung a few times before she picked up.

“Hey Jemma, how’s the land of the kilts?”

Jemma winced at this. “Skye I need you to pick me up from the train station in two hours.”

There was a long pause at the other end of the phone. “W-why? Has something happened? Are you alright?” There was obvious panic in her best friend’s voice.

“Yeah. Well no, not really. Physically I am fine, but Fitz and I had a fight and I couldn’t stay there a second longer.”

“Oh my god, Jemma I am so sorry. Do you want to tell me what happened?” Skye asked.

“No not really.” She sighed into the phone, “I just need you to pick me up.”

“Jemma, I don’t think I can. I’ve had two glasses of wine, would you be ok if I brought Bobbi or Hunter along with me? That way they can drive as long as I’m in the car with them.”

Jemma nodded, “Yeah, that’s fine. I need to go though because some people are trying to sleep on here.” She waited for Skye to reply then hung up. She was so tempted to at least listen to the voicemails that were piling up but doing so would only bring on another fit of crying and she couldn’t do that on here. Instead, she put her earphones in and listened to her music while watching the landscape blur past her window.

* * *

The train pulled into its final stop at the station, a crackling voice announcing it over the speakers. She stood up on shaking legs and took her bag from the overhead luggage compartment. She dug her ticket out of her pocket ready to scan it through the security barriers and followed the rest of the passengers onto the platform. Once through she took the main exit outside and looked for Skye’s car. It was parked in one of the closest spaces with Skye and Bobbi waiting outside. The second Skye saw the state Jemma was in she ran over and hugged her, unfortunately for Jemma this only brought on more tears.

“Come on, let’s get you home.” She comforted her, taking her bag from her hand.

Jemma nodded sadly, trying to stay as composed as possible in the circumstances.

The drive back was silent, Skye and Bobbi not wanting to upset her any more. When they pulled into their buildings parking lot Jemma got out and walked ahead by herself, she unlocked the door and went straight to her room where she landed face first on her bed and let it all out.

* * *

Jemma woke up when she heard Skye moving around the apartment. She was still in yesterday’s clothes but Skye must have come in while she slept because there was a blanket draped over her. She heard three light knocks on her phone and sat up, wiping away the dry salty tears on her cheeks. “Come in.”

Skye shuffled through the door with a tray of toast and tea. “Are you ready to talk about it?” She asked, placing the tray on her bedside table and sitting on the edge of the bed.

Jemma nodded, “I think so, yeah.”

Skye listened intently while Jemma recounted the events of the night before. When she was finished, Skye sat in shocked silence. “Have you talked to him since?”

“No. He’s been calling and texting a lot but they seem to have stopped now. I haven’t read any of them though and I didn’t answer his calls.” She looked down.

“Jesus Jemma, I can’t believe he would do something like that.”

Jemma shrugged at her.

“OK.” Skye announced, standing up. “It’s time for Dr. Skye’s breakup remedy, I’m going to the shops for supplies, you need to take a shower and put on your cosiest pyjamas while I’m out. I will see you in an hour.”

“We technically haven’t broken up.” Jemma mumbled.

“Then Dr. Skye’s ‘my boyfriend was a dick’ remedy.” With that she left.

Jemma waited until she heard the front door close before taking a bite of her toast. She suddenly realised how hungry she was and the food was quickly gone. She drank down the tea and got out of bed, heading to the bathroom.

True to her word, Skye returned in exactly an hour, just as Jemma had put on her pyjamas as ordered.

“I’ve got ice-cream, chocolates, Bridget Jones Diary 1 and 2, and…” She riffled through her carrier bag a bit more, “face masks because skin care is important.”

“What about wine?” Jemma asked, plonking herself down on the sofa.

“Nope. Alcohol isn’t part of Dr. Skye’s remedy, it just makes you ill the next day and prolongs the problem.”

Jemma laughed slightly at her friend.

“There you go! It’s working already.” She exclaimed. Skye noticed something in Jemma’s hand. “What’s that?”

Jemma looked down at the toy monkey in her hand. “I got it for Fitz at the zoo. He was staring at them when we went in and I thought it would be nice to surprise him with it last night.”

Skye went to take it from her but she pulled away.

“Please let me keep it. It reminds me of when we were happy. Before this mess started.”

Skye nodded, “Ok.”

Jemma hugged it close to her while Skye started the DVD and got them spoons for the ice cream.


	22. What do I do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning of mild violence at the end

Once everyone had left, Fitz’s mother came upstairs and knocked on his bedroom door. “Leo sweetie, can I come in?”

She heard shuffling on the other side of the door, “Fine.” He sniffed.

Gail creaked open the door and sat herself down on the end of his bed. Fitz sat with his knees up and his head in his hands, the pillow was soaked with tears and when he looked up at her she gasped at how terrible he looked. He wiped a red eye with the back of his hand.

“What happened?” She asked softly, placing a hand on her sons knees to comfort him.

“Zoe turned up. She was spouting all this bullshit about how she wants us to try again then, before I even knew what was happening, she kissed me.” He felt tears flood his eyes again, “And that’s when Jemma came downstairs.”

“I thought you and Zoe ended things before you left school?”

Fitz nodded, “We did. Well, she did. I don’t get why she thought a teenage relationship was any grounds for an actual, serious one. And now everything with Jemma is fucked up, she won’t even answer my calls.”

Gail sighed. She never expected to have to say this to her son, but given the situation she had no choice. “And you don’t want anything to happen between you and Zoe? This isn’t you thinking of having any kind of affair”

Fitz looked up at her, completely shocked. “What?! No. The only thing I want her to do is get the hell out of my life. I love Jemma, I hate every second I have to spend without her and now she’s in a different _country.”_

Gail smiled at him. This was the first time he had told her that he loved Jemma. Sure, she’d heard them say it to each other but his admittance proved how true it really was. “It’s only England, sweetie. I know it’s a whole other place and is basically hell down there but it’s only a few hours.”

Fitz let out a short laugh. “What do I do?” He asked.

Gail thought about her answer for a second. “I’ll book you a train ticket for tomorrow and as soon as you get back you go straight to her and tell her the truth about how you feel. But for now, get some sleep. If she isn’t picking up her phone then she won’t change her mind any time soon so just wait until you see her to get everything out.” Fitz nodded at the idea and Gail kissed him on the cheek in goodnight and gave his hair a little ruffle. “It will all come right in the end Leo, trust me.” She left him alone and headed downstairs to tidy up after the party.

Once she had gone Fitz stood up and took off his clothes from the party. He lifted his covers and got into bed, hugging his duvet to him and enjoying how much it smelt of Jemma even though she’d only slept in it for two nights.

* * *

Fitz didn’t wake until 10am. He waved his arm out to the side in search of his girlfriend but found nothing but emptiness. That’s when the reality of the night hit him so hard that he felt like he’d just been slammed into a concrete wall. His throat was sore from the time spent crying himself to sleep. Sitting up, he looked around the room and decided that the best use of his time was to repack all of his things. Going through them, however, he found many of Jemma’s clothes, obviously left behind in her hurry to leave, he lifted her t-shirt to his face and inhaled. He missed the feeling of her presence so much that it physically hurt, like he had just had his heart torn out in front of him. When finished with packing, he showered and dressed before padding downstairs for breakfast.

His mum was sitting at the kitchen table reading a magazine. She looked up when she heard him, “Morning, Leo.” She greeted him kindly, her eyes filled with compassion. “How are you feeling?”

“Terrible.” He told her, not saying anything else for the duration of breakfast.

His train wasn’t until 4 o’clock so he wasted some time by helping to clean up what his mum hadn’t got to last night. When the time came, his mum dropped him off at the station and wished him good luck. It didn’t take him long to figure out which platform it left from and get on. Initially he was the first on but eventually the carriage filled up and he ended up having to sit next to an elderly woman who kept trying to spark up a conversation with him, something that he really wasn’t feeling up to. He apologised to her and said he had a headache so wasn’t feeling up to talking.

Over the hours of the journey he sat looking out of the window unfocused, trying to come up with something to say when he got there. He tried calling a few more times but each time it rung out until it reached voicemail, when he would hang up. The carriage started to empty again until it was only him and a few other men of around his age.

A girl, who looked to be about 19 or 20, got on at the second last stop. Once she had sat down, he heard one of the other men bothering her. Fitz could hear the distress in her voice at their persistence so decided he had to intervene.

“Hey. Just leave her alone.” He told the group.

One of them looked up at him with anger burnt into his eyes. “What are you gonna do if I don’t?” He started towards Fitz, the other men in his group following suit.

Fitz backed into his seat, growing up in Glasgow meant he was used to people like this but he’d never had any gang up on him like right now. “Noth-nothing. Sorry, I didn’t mean to-“

Before he could finish his sentence he was dragged from his seat by his collar. “You think you’re better than us or something.” The first man yelled in his face, spittle flying through the air.

“N-n-no I swear, please don’t hurt me.” He stuttered out.

“Too late for that, _mate.”_ The air was knocked out of Fitz by a punch to his gut. He heard the girl across the carriage scream but there was nobody else there to help. The man dropped him to the ground where Fitz curled into a ball. They threw punches and kicks into him, each one shooting pains right through him until he fell unconscious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I feel like I'm getting meaner with each chapter


	23. The Hospital

**Jemma’s apartment**

Jemma sat alone in her room. She had changed into jeans and a t-shirt before dinner time since she had gone out to collect their Chinese takeaway. Skye said they should just get it delivered but she had insisted that it was “Ridiculously overpriced to have it delivered from there” but truthfully she just wanted a task to focus on, even on a task as basic as food collecting. It was 9pm now and Skye was working away on a new computer programme in the living room. Jemma heard her phone ring and groaned, really hoping it wasn’t Fitz because she couldn’t take the guilt of declining another call. She had read through his texts and had decided that it really wasn’t his fault, but that girl Zoe’s, though this fact didn’t make her ready to talk to him. She looked at the screen of her phone, surprised to see it was Dr. Weaver who was calling.

“Hello?” She answered, trying to figure out why her boss would call her so late.

“Jemma, thank god. I was worried you wouldn’t pick up.” She sounded upset.

“What’s going on?” Jemma asked.

She heard Weaver’s voice waver slightly, “I was just waiting outside of the hospital when… When I saw Fitz being taken inside by the ambulance crew.”

Jemma’s heart sped up rapidly, she jumped out and started searching for her shoes. “Oh my god! Is he ok? What happened?”

“Jemma you need to calm down, can you get here or do you need me to pick you up?”

“My roommate has a car, she can drive me in. Just tell me what’s wrong with him.”

Weaver sounded horrified as she spoke. “He was on the train coming back from Scotland, just before his stop a group of men attacked him. He’s stable but he’s still unconscious.”

Jemma couldn’t breathe. Her throat felt tight and her legs had seized to the floor. She hung up the phone and forced herself out of her bedroom. _This is my fault_ she thought, _he would never have been on that train if she hadn’t run off._ She pulled the door open and, voice shaking, told Skye what had happened.

Without saying anything, Skye ran to the door to pull her shoes on. She grabbed her keys and the two of them made it to the car in under a minute, taking the stairs for speed. She only spoke when they were driving, “Can you phone Mack? We’ll pick him up on the way there.”

Jemma nodded through her tears, tapping her foot and muttering “come on” while her phone dialled his number.

“Hey Jemma.” He answered, clearly with no idea of anything that had happened this weekend.

“Mack, Fitz is in hospital. He was attacked on the train. We’ll be outside your building in five minutes.” Mack was silent on the other end. “Mack?”

“Ok, I’ll see you in five minutes.” His voice was quiet, so quiet that it was barely audible.

Jemma hung up on him, her mind rushed in panic and suddenly she wished so hard that she had answered his calls before, just because he was stable didn’t mean that nothing could go wrong and she couldn’t take it if the last time she spoke to him was their fight. _No,_ she thought, _don’t think like that._

They picked up Mack and sped on to the hospital, no one saying anything. Skye stopped at the entrance and let Jemma and Mack out before she went to park the car. The two of them ran inside, Jemma leading the way to intensive care. They burst into the reception room for that unit and went straight to the desk.

“We’re looking for Leopold Fitz’s room.” Mack told the man at the desk.

“You can’t go in unless you’re family.” He told them.

“I’m his roommate and she’s his girlfriend.” Mack said, pleading him to let them in.

The man sighed, “Fine, but if anyone asked you’re his adopted brother or something.” He stood up and walked them to a door. “He looks bad but the doctors have stabilised him and as far as we can tell there’s been no serious damage to his brain but we can’t be sure until he’s awake.”

They nodded and pushed the door open, stopping dead in their tracks when they saw him.

Fitz lay on the hospital bed, wires and tubes all over him. Jemma ran straight to his side and started checking everything to make sure he was properly hooked up to the machines. Satisfied, sat in the chair next to his bed and took a light hold of his hand.

Mack however was still standing at the door, eyes wide in horror. He swore under his breath and slowly came closer to him. They stayed like this until the man from the desk knocked and came in. “There’s a girl called Skye who says she knows him, should I let her in?”

Jemma nodded and he opened the door wider to let her in. Skye sat down next to Jemma. “Is he going to be ok?”

Jemma shrugged, “We can’t really know until he wakes up.”


	24. It's been over a week

Jemma was still sitting on a chair next to Fitz’s bed, empty coffee cup in one hand, Fitz’s in the other, when Hunter came in. He put a hand on her shoulder and she jumped in surprise.

“Sorry. I thought you had heard me come in.” He said. “Listen, I can stay with him for a bit while you go home and get some sleep. You need it.”

Jemma shook her head determinedly, “No, I’m fine. I want to be here when he wakes up.”

Hunter sighed and pulled a chair over to sit in, “Jemma. It’s been over a week and you’ve only been home twice for short visits to shower. You’ve barely slept, you’ve been living off of cheap coffee and vending machine snacks. You need to go home.”

She thought his points over for a minute, “Fine.” She stood up and kissed Fitz on the forehead, “I’ll be back in a few hours.” She whispered to him.

“Hey,” Hunter said to get her attention as she was leaving, “I’ll call you if anything happens.”

“Thanks.” Jemma smiled weakly at him and then left.

She paid for a taxi back home and went straight to bed, setting her alarm for a few hours later.

* * *

Hunter sat beside Fitz’s bed, god knows how he managed to get her to leave considering that everyone had been trying for days. Even Fitz’s mother had called her to try and convince her. Hunter had spoken to his mother, who kept reminding him to call her Gail rather than ‘Fitz’s mum’, a few times since the accident. Apparently she couldn’t come down to see him because her boss wouldn’t give her that much time off so every time someone visited him they would phone her to give updates. He heard someone come in and turned to see who it was.

A middle aged woman in a nurse uniform stood just inside the door. “Oh good, she finally went home. That girl really loves him huh?”

Hunter smiled and nodded, “Yeah, they’re pretty much perfect for each other.”

“So you know them well?” She asked.

Hunter shrugged. “Jemma, yes. Fitz not so much though, I only met him this year but he’s one of my two closest guy friends.”

“You can keep a hold of this for me then?” She reached into her pocket and pulled something out, “We didn’t want to give it to his girlfriend, in case she didn’t know, but it was in his jacket pocket and it’s against policy for us to hold anything without people’s knowledge.”

She handed it to Hunter, it was only when he held it in his hand that he realised what it was, “Oh my god.” He whispered, more to himself than her. He opened the small box carefully to reveal an engagement ring with a pretty sizeable diamond.

“Looks like I made the right choice by not giving it to her, that’s something he should be able to do in his own time.”

Hunter stared at the ring in his hand, “Yeah. Thank you.” He smiled at her.

Hunter waited until she had gone before talking to Fitz. “Congratulations, mate.” He carefully closed the box and put it in his pocket, reminding himself to check it was still there every few minutes.

Hunter had fallen asleep by the time Jemma returned. She shook him lightly to wake him, “Hunter. Wake up.”

Hunter opened his eyes and stretched out in a yawn. He suddenly shoved his hand into his pocket in a panic and then calmed down when he found whatever he was looking for, _probably his phone,_ she thought.

“Hey. You look a lot better for some sleep.” He told her, smiling for some odd reason.

“Thanks for staying with him. I couldn’t bear the thought of him waking up alone.”

Hunter smiled at her, getting out of his seat and letting her have it. “It’s fine. There still haven’t been any changes but he’ll pull through, trust me.”

Jemma nodded and let him hug her. The warmth of him comforting her, it had been days since she had any real physical contact other than Fitz’s wilted hand in hers or the occasional sympathetic shoulder rub. He smiled at her once more then left her alone. She sat back down in her usual position and took his hand. “I love you.” She whispered, kissing his cheek. She could have sworn she felt him squeeze her hand but it was probably just her wishful thinking.

She told him about everything that was happening outside of the hospital, praying that he would answer back. After half an hour she started drifting off into sleep. But then she heard something.

“Fitz?” She asked, sitting up straight and watching his mouth intently. She thought he heard him say her name.

“Jemma.” He said. It was clearer now, and she saw his lips move. Jemma pressed the button to get a doctor in.

“Fitz, it’s me. Wake up, please wake up.” She rubbed her thumb up and down his hand.

His forehead wrinkled into a slight frown as his eyes started to open against the bright light of the room. “Jem? What- What’ going on.” He was really waking up! His hand gripped hers for the first time in days and tried to sit up. She jumped to stop him in case he hurt himself.

“Woah, stay lying down honey. Everything’s going to be fine. You’re in hospital, I’m right here.”

A doctor ran through the door urgently, “Why did you press the button.” She asked, running over to the bed but realising what was happening very quickly. The doctor checked over him until she had decided that he was fine. “Am I correct in saying that you have are a medical doctor?” She asked Jemma.

“Amongst other thing, yes.”

The doctor nodded, “Then I’ll give you two some space, press the button if you need me.”

Jemma thanked her and focused on Fitz. “Fitz, what can you remember?”

Fitz thought for a second, clearing his throat to speak better. “I was on the train and there was a girl, some guys were bothering her and then- and then I’m not sure.”

“That’s fine, Fitz. You don’t need to know everything right now but that’s enough to show that there are no obvious signs of short term amnesia.”

He nodded a little then he remembered why he was on that train in the first place, “Jem, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have let Zoe talk, I knew she was bad news but-“ He rambled.

“Shh Fitz. I don’t care about any of that, all I care about is that you’re ok.”

“I love you, Jemma, more than anything.” Fitz looked into her eyes as he said this, wishing he could kiss her but the damn breathing apparatus was in the way.

“I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I didn't post this yesterday but i was at the welcome to night vale live show in Glasgow (which was amazing).  
> Things should get back to fluff soon so don't worry :)


	25. Going Home

“Mum I’m fine, the doctor’s said I can go home later today and the police arrested the guys that did it.” Fitz told his mum through his phone. “Yeah they caught their faces on the CCTV so could match them… Yeah Jemma’s here, I’ll put her on.” He handed his bashed phone to Jemma, “She wants to talk to you.”

Jemma held it up to her ear, “Hi Gail… Yes he’s going to be fine, he just needs to rest for a few more days then he’ll be back to normal, I promise.” Jemma smiled to herself at whatever Gail had just said, “Thank you but I really haven’t done anything to help… I will, goodbye.” She gave the phone back to Fitz so he could say goodbye too.

Once Fitz had ended the phone call, he moved his head to look at Jemma. “You know you didn’t have to stay here while I was in the coma, the nurses said you barely left. It’s not good for you to get that little sleep, Jem.”

Jemma shrugged, “I was worried about you.” Her gaze fell down to their hands, which had been intertwined for the duration of her three hour visit.

They stayed in silence for a few moments before Fitz used his free hand to tilt her head up, now he could look into her eyes he opened his mouth to talk, “Jemma Simmons-“ he started, but was interrupted by a light knock on the open door as Dr Weaver walked in.

“Don’t worry, this won’t take long.” She told them. “I heard that you are being allowed home on the condition that Simmons stays with you in case of any problems so both of you can take as much time off work as you need, just call me when you’re ready to return.”

“Thank you.” Fitz said, “But I told Jemma that she should go back to work so she doesn’t lose her mind dealing with me all day long.”

Jemma nodded in reluctant agreement, although she wanted to spend as much time as possible with Fitz, she was itching to get back to work after nearly two weeks of her mind having no problems to deal with.

“Very well, I’ll arrange for one of our new interns to be temporarily paired with you. And I hope you get well soon, Fitz.”

They smiled at her as she left, thanking her for her kindness. Jemma looked back to Fitz once she was gone, “What were you saying?” She asked him.

Fitz waved his hand in the air, “Doesn’t matter.” He dismissed, reaching under the covers to better hide the small box that hid under there from Hunter’s visit.

***

“I can walk, you know.” Fitz protested as Mack pushed his wheelchair into the lift, Jemma following close behind with a small bag of medical supplies hanging from her shoulder.

“Just because you can doesn’t mean you should, Turbo. Your doctor told us that you were only to walk very short distances for the rest of the day, as in a few metres.” Mack reasoned with him.

Jemma pressed the correct button on the lift. “Mack’s right, until tomorrow you’re only allowed out to walk from your bedroom to the bathroom.”

Fitz groaned loudly. “What if I get hungry in the night? Can I go make food or is that banned too?”

Jemma shook her head and Mack laughed, “Fitz, if you get hungry then wake me up. I’d much rather get you your 3am cereal than have you injuring yourself somehow by walking around too early.”

“I wish I had a girlfriend who was willing to make me night time snacks.” Mack said, still chucking slightly.”

“Don’t even think about stealing mine, I already dibsed her.” Fitz joked.

Jemma leant down to kiss him on the head, “You tell him, honey.” She waited for Mack to take him out of the lift before following. While Mack searched himself for his keys to unlock the door, Jemma absent-mindedly played with Fitz’s hair.

“Mmm,” He hummed, “That feels nice.”

“I’m right here guys, so could you please hold back your coupley behaviour until I don’t have to witness it.

Fitz apologised but Jemma kept her hand where it was, enjoying the feeling of his soft curls running through her fingers.

Mack finally managed to unlock the door and held the door open to let Jemma push Fitz inside.

“Ok, you’re going straight to bed. I cleaned your room earlier so it’s actually liveable now.” Jemma said, wheeling Fitz into his bedroom, closing the door behind them. “Sit on the bed and start getting undressed.” She ordered, getting a clean set of pyjamas from his chest of drawers.

Fitz obeyed and slowly stood up, grunting as his body protested. “Jem, I know I’m irresistible but I don’t think now’s the time.” He teased, sitting himself on the end of his bed and unbuttoning his shirt.

“You know what I mean.” She said. She stood in shock when she turned around, seeing his bare chest for the first time since the attack. “Fitz.” She gasped. His entire torso was black with bruises that trailed down from his neckline to his waistline, where his jeans stopped her from see any more of them.

“Jem, I’m fine. They’re not as bad as they look.” He tried to tell her, unable to bear the sight of tears welling up in his girlfriend’s eyes.

“No, no you’re not. This is all my fault. You wouldn’t have been on that train if it wasn’t for me.” Tears were streaming down her face as she said this.

Fitz frowned at her. “Don’t ever blame yourself for this, Jemma. If you hadn’t left the night before then you would have been on there with me and they wouldn’t have left you alone. They were savages, Jem, and the thought of them hurting you would kill me. There was nothing anyone could do to stop what happened.”

Jemma nodded, sniffing and wiping her eyes.

“Now help me get these jeans off, ok?” He told her.

Jemma moved over to him and slid them off of him in one fluid movement. She piled his clothes on the floor and helped him into his pyjamas.

“Thanks.” Fitz said, standing up and kissing her. “I mean it.”

Jemma kissed him back before taking off her own clothes. Fitz climbed into his side of the bed and watched her.

“It’s rude to stare.” She flirted with him, throwing her clothes on top of his. She pulled one of his t-shirts over her head and put on a pair of his boxer shorts.

“I would mention that those are mine but honestly I’m quite enjoying the idea of you wearing my underwear.” He said from his place in the bed.

Jemma got in next to him and gently pulled him closer, “Yeah?” she grinned at him.

“Yeah.” He said back, kissing her on the lips and whispering “Night Jem” to her as he drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the fluff is back (sort of)!!!! :)


	26. The Gift

Fitz groaned loudly when he woke up. The effects of his painkillers had worn off during the night leaving him to feel the results of being covered in bruises. He stretched out his limbs warily, afraid that too much movement all of a sudden would cause more damage. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes he was upset to notice that Jemma had left without waking him, but then again he had needed the rest so probably wouldn’t have taken kindly to being awake at whatever crazy hour she got up at today. Sometimes she would sleep until half seven (that was a lazy day in her books), but she had recently gotten into the habit of going for a morning jog at half five in the morning and Fitz was definitely against that idea. Something at the end of the bed caught his eye. A soft toy monkey had been sat at his feet, a large helium balloon that said ‘Get Well Soon’ tied to one of its arms. He shuffled closer to pick it up, smiling at the post it note stuck to its forehead: _Be careful today, you need to rest. Love Jemma x._ Warmth coursed through him at her thoughtfulness, how the hell did she manage to buy this without him noticing? He reached behind him to get his phone off of the bedside table and sent her a text.

_“You’re the best! I’ve decided to call him Marvin xx”_

A reply came within milliseconds, _“Good choice. Sorry I didn’t wake you earlier but you looked like you needed the sleep, I’ll be back at 5 with tea. x”_

_“Cool,”_ he typed _“I’ll see you then, love you x”_

“ _Love you too <3 xxx”_

He locked his phone and pulled the box out from its hiding place under the mattress. He took the ring out and held it in his hands. "T _onight is going to be the night"_ he thought to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is so short but I've had a lot of work to do today, I'll try post a longer one tomorrow but can't promise anything :)


	27. Dinner and a Film

Jemma watched the clock in the corner of her computer screen impatiently, begging it to be 4:30pm so she could leave. She had learnt to block out most of what her idiotic excuse for a lab partner was droning on about but she could still hear his voice. He was here on an internship for the next month so Dr Weaver had given him to her to help out since she was working alone until Fitz got better, he had seemed fine in the beginning, shaking her hand respectfully and introducing himself. But as she suspected, he was just another nerdy guy who had never experienced anything even remotely interesting. To top this, he apparently hadn’t had much experience with women and so was leering at her when he thought she wasn’t looking. This led to her dropping Fitz’s name into conversation to try and discourage him.

The minute finally changed and she could leave. She switched off her computer, grabbed her bag from under her desk and put on her jacket. “Bye Cameron, see you tomorrow.” She said brightly. She may have started hated him a few hours ago but if there was one thing Jemma Simmons wasn’t, it was rude.

She jogged up the steps the main exit and out of the automatic hospital doors, rushing off to what had become their favourite chippy.

“Jemma, haven’t seen you in a while. What can I get you?” Said the very old man from behind the counter with his odd mix of an Italian and Scottish accent together.

“Hi Anselmo, just our usual and an extra portion of chips please.”

Anselmo nodded, taking two battered sausages for Fitz and a fish for Jemma out of the heated display area. “Have you got a guest tonight or is that man of yours feeling extra hungry?”

Jemma laughed at this, “Just extra hungry, as always.”

He put the newspaper wrapped package on the counter for Jemma to pick up and entered the prices into the till. “That’ll be £8.20 please.”

Jemma handed him the exact change and picked up the food, “Thanks.” She said to him, making her way out of the door.

“Have a nice night.” He called after her.

 

* * *

 

She carefully balanced the chips in her arms so that she could open the door with her newly freed hand. “Hi Fitz, I got us chips.” She shouted through the apartment.

Fitz appeared at his bedroom door, licking his lips in anticipation. “Great! I’m starving.” He passed behind Jemma to get plates out while she got a knife and fork and can of coke for each of them, putting the plates beside her he slipped his arms around her waist.

“Someone’s feeling better.” She said, spinning around to face him.

“Yep.” He said, wrapping his arms tighter around her waist and kissing her deeply. “Missed you today.” He whispered, trailing a line of kisses along her jawline and down her neck.

“Fitz, remember what I said about not doing anything too athletic? Because that unfortunately includes sex.” It physically pained her to tell him this but she didn’t want him making his condition any worse.

He kissed his way lightly back up to her lips, leaving one last kiss there. “I know.” He said sadly, letting her go to plate up their meals.

It didn’t take Fitz long to plough through both his sausage and chips and his extra portion. Jemma was on her last few chips, dipping each one meticulously in tomato ketchup.

“I still can’t believe that battered pizzas aren’t a thing down here.” He muttered, wiping the grease from his mouth with a piece of kitchen roll. “I mean, you’ve still got to be careful where you go in Scotland because in Stirling they call it ‘pizza crunch’ and those things are wrong. What you want is a little bit of crunch from the batter, then the melted cheese and soft dough.”

Jemma sighed, this wasn’t his first battered pizza rant. “Fitz, those things are heart attacks waiting to happen. The one you had when we were up there oozed grease.”

“That’s part of the charm.” He pointed out. “Anyway, I was thinking we watch _Winter Soldier_ tonight. It is kind of our film after all.”

Jemma smiled, she thought he had forgotten about how that film had basically brought them together. “Sounds good to me. But you leant your copy to Hunter.”

Fitz shrugged, “I’m sure we can find something else then.”

“I could go get mine, it would only take like ten minutes.” She suggested.

Fitz smiled, he knew she couldn’t resist that film. “You sure?”

Jemma nodded, getting up to find her shoes. “Yeah, I’ll be back in a bit. Do you need anything from mine?”

“No, I’m good. See you later then.” He kissed her on the cheek in goodbye, waiting until the door was closed to shout to Mack. “Mack! She’s gone, have you got everything?”

Mack appeared from the other room with a box filled with candles and rose petals. “I’ll get everything through here ready, you get changed.”

Fitz agreed, running into his room to change into the suit he wore on their first date.

 

* * *

 

Jemma frowned as she came close to the door at the sound of music on the other side. She shrugged it off and opened the door, turning and closing it behind her she only noticed the rest of the apartment when she was properly in the room.

She watched in complete shock as Fitz walked slowly into the room, dressed in his best clothes. All the surfaces of the room had been sprinkled with rose petals and tall candles were lit, providing the only source of light in the room. She couldn’t control her smile when she realised what was happening.

“Hi.” Said Fitz as he lowered down to one knee. “Jemma, I love you. Every time I see you or hear your voice I realise just how hard I’ve fallen for you and it took what happened to make me realise that I can’t live without you. I know we haven’t been together long but I know for a fact that I want to be with you forever, I want to be able to spend every second of my day with you.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box, opening it out for her. “So, Jemma Simmons, will you marry me?”

Jemma could barely stop smiling long enough to speak. “Yes!” She almost screamed.

Fitz launched himself at her, pulling her into the best kiss of both their lives.

“Definitely yes.” She whispered to him, tears of joy in her eyes.

Fitz leaned back enough to bring the ring between them, taking it out of the box and sliding it carefully onto her finger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I was going to add another couple of chapters but I felt like this was a better place to stop naturally.

**Author's Note:**

> Ok so hopefully I'll be able to update this every other day.  
> Thanks for reading, feel free to leave any suggestions for future chapters or general comments :)  
> My tumblr is coffee-is-my-division if you want to check that out


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